Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning
John Sweller argues that expertise in problem solving depends mainly on domain-specific knowledge organised as schemas, and that conventional problem solving is a poor way to acquire them because the two activities place little overlapping demands on the mind. Means-ends analysis, a common problem-solving strategy, uses so much of the learner's limited processing capacity that little remains for acquiring schemas. A computational model and experiments support the argument, and the paper discusses its theoretical and practical implications.
John Sweller argues that expertise in problem solving depends mainly on domain-specific knowledge organised as schemas, and that conventional problem solving is a poor way to acquire them because the two activities place little overlapping demands on the mind. Means-ends analysis, a common problem-solving strategy, uses so much of the learner's limited processing capacity that little remains for acquiring schemas. A computational model and experiments support the argument, and the paper discusses its theoretical and practical implications.
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Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science, 12(2), 257-285. doi:10.1016/0364-0213(88)90023-7.