Teaching Adolescents |
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John Sweller built on Miller’s principle of limited working memory space. Cognitive Load Theory addresses the learning of complex cognitive tasks (Paas, 2010). The amount of stress these tasks put on working memory is massive. CLT is used in order to lessen the burden on working memory. CLT uses current knowledge of cognitive architecture in to guide instructional practices (Paas, 2010). The architecture of cognition consists of a vast Long Term Memory (LTM) interacting with the very small Working Memory (WM). Information is processed in the working memory and then stored in the long term memory. Very large amounts of information can be brought back from LTM to WM over indefinite periods of time. In that sense, the lack of space available in working memory becomes less important. The more information stored in the LTM, the higher the level of performance is by an individual in a given area (Paas, 2010).
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