We all live in the information age and are inundated with countless pieces of information every day, especially in the workplace. And then there's the annual training to consider. To ensure that your learners are not overwhelmed by too many impressions, you should pay attention to a few things.
Who doesn’t know it: In a stressful work environment, there is often not enough time for important tasks, and then there’s also a training measure to consider. If this is mandated by the employer, it can cause discontent among some employees and add to their stress. A good way to integrate training into daily life is digital offerings like e-learning. It is particularly important to keep the strain and cognitive load during the training as low as possible.
First things first: What does cognitive load actually mean?
Cognitive load (in German: kognitive Belastung) is a term from psychology that refers to the learning process and the processing of learning content. More specifically, the Cognitive Load Theory describes the amount of mental resources required for a learning process. But don't worry, it won't get too scientific here!
We all have limited capacities, regardless of the topic. When our resources are depleted, we can no longer work or think productively – this is also the case in the learning process. Three types of load interact that can affect learning success: intrinsic load, extrinsic load, and germane load.
Intrinsic Load
As the term intrinsic suggests, intrinsic load refers to the load that arises from within. This type of load relates to the learning material and the individual elements of your training course. The level of intrinsic load depends on the preferred learning style and the prior knowledge of the learners. Generally, the higher the subject-specific prior knowledge, the lower the intrinsic load. This type of load can hinder learning.
Example: Your learning content is already very complex because it concerns data protection. Your participants need to engage with the topic but have had little previous exposure. Their prior knowledge is therefore rather low, and the amount of information is large. There is a risk of information overload. To keep the intrinsic load as low as possible, you should first explain all relevant terms. Afterwards, your learners can identify larger contexts and delve more into the topic.
Extrinsic Load
Extrinsic load, or irrelevant cognitive load, primarily refers to the presentation and display of learning content – in other words: How is your e-learning or training structured? This form of load mainly concerns external conditions rather than the content itself. Depending on the form of presentation, a learning content can be easier or harder to understand. This is especially true if certain prior knowledge is already available. Conversely, if certain elements in a course cause confusion or distraction. This type of load is also detrimental to learning.
Example: To enable your learners to focus on the topic of data protection, the external conditions must also be right. Minimize unnecessary distractions that only serve to make your course look more appealing and focus solely on the content. Design your content to be as clear as possible, and avoid superfluous elements and repetitions.
Germane Load
The last type of load refers to the learners themselves and describes the actual understanding of the learning content. Germane load promotes learning and should therefore be increased accordingly. The greater the germane load, the better the actual learning performance is. This learning-related load describes, among other things, the effort that the learner must exert to understand learning content, relationships, and processes. Learners actively engage with your content, independently establish connections, and solve problems that arise during the learning process.
Example: In the context of data protection, this could be a fictional scenario in which the learners must decide what to do. This way, they apply the theoretical content and must implement it in a complex situation.
So, what can we learn from this? Package learning content in such a way that as little distraction as possible occurs, and cognitive load is reduced. Supportive elements like graphics or videos should match the learning content so that the relevant cognitive load is increased, and learners can actively apply your learning materials.
Cognitive Load in E-Learning: What HR professionals should pay attention to
To allow your learners to fully concentrate on your training, you can consider the following things to keep cognitive load low.
1. Pay attention to the processing capacity of the learners
To keep intrinsic load as low as possible, you should focus on small learning units in the style of microlearning:
Create one learning content per topic, and divide it more if necessary rather than too little.
Include a summary or repetition at the end of each learning unit.
Ideally, you place these in the overall context so that learners can establish their own connections between information.
Ensure that your learners can easily access your learning content to minimize potential barriers.
2. Consider the prior knowledge of your participants
To promote the germane load of learners, you should incorporate their experience level and prior knowledge into the planning:
Ask about the knowledge level of the participants before starting your training and adjust the learning content accordingly.
If you are sure that the participants have the prior knowledge, you should skip repetitions of basics.
3. Design your learning content to suit your target audience
In planning training, the learners should be at the center, which applies to more than just the selection of topics:
Ensure a consistent structure in your training so that your learners can navigate your course easily.
To help recognize the connections of complex content more quickly, related learning units should be placed close to each other.
To maintain high motivation and attention, you should choose varied methods and alternate between image, text, and video.
4. Reduce learning content without recognizable added value
In the design of trainings, extrinsic load is often neglected, as responsible parties want to make their courses as appealing as possible – this can be distracting:
Get to the point with your learning content and use clear language with short sentences.
Avoid unnecessary duplications and leave out visual effects that only serve to embellish your course.
You see, there are various ways to minimize the cognitive load on learners. In summary, it can be stated: Consider the learners' capacity to absorb information, design your learning content to meet their needs, account for their prior knowledge, and eliminate all content without added value.
