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Thermodynamics is one of the most complex topics in chemistry. Cognitive Load Theory claims that the complexity of a subject is mainly due to element interactivity - how many elements an individual must organise simultaneously in her/his working memory to master a topic. The simultaneous processing of various chemistry and mathematics concepts to learn thermodynamics puts a strain on the working memory capacity of the learner. Accordingly, what kind of change occurs in a learner's cognitive processes according to the level of element interactivity is an issue that needs to be investigated. The aim of this study is to reveal the basic indicators of element interactivity and investigate the effects of instructional design on understanding subjects with different element interactivity levels. With this objective in mind, educational software comprising eight distinct sessions for instructional design was developed in accordance with the Cognitive Load Theory. The sample consisted of 37 freshmen who were taking classes in the Chemistry Department of a public university in Turkey. The instructional design was implemented with the experimental group while the control group followed the lecturer's instructional design. The results indicate that, in terms of the cognitive load in the learning process, the study time and the learning at the retention and transfer level are among the basic indicators of the element interactivity. This study also determined that the instructional design that is developed according to Cognitive Load Theory can provide effective learning at the retention and transfer levels in subjects with high element interactivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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According to the program based on constructivist learning approach and came into force in the 2005-2006 education year, students have become the subject of education. However, according to the PISA results conducted since 2003, students in Turkey cannot reach the top level achievements in the field of learning reading skills. Despite relatively its little progress in the area of reading skills of each semester, Turkey, unfortunately, still remains below average among OECD countries in the rankings. Although the reasons for this situation are multifaceted, the importance of teacher influence cannot be denied. In this context, Turkish teachers should activate the students in the lesson in order to be able to make effective teaching in learning and teaching processes and increase the efficiency of learning. Both the changes in the program and the problems related to the language skills in the national and international exams and the researches related to the problems faced by the teachers in the use of materials have increased the importance of teaching materials in Turkish teaching and have brought the researches about the effectiveness of the teaching materials. Therefore, in this study, it was aimed to inform and create awareness about teaching materials that can be used in Turkish teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ondokuz Mayis University Journal of Education is the property of Ondokuz Mayis University Faculty of Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study, based on an online instruction via the web conferencing system, explores extraneous cognitive load and its influence on the learning process. Sixty-two sophomore students who enrolled in an online introductory programming course participated in the study. An observation form was used to analyse the course records in video format. Interviews with selected participants were conducted in order to clarify the students’ behaviours during the instructional process. The results indicated that the extraneous cognitive load elements (coherence, redundancy, modality, signalling, and temporal-spatial contiguity) influenced the instructional process. The results suggested that, in web conferencing systems extraneous cognitive load appeared not only from design features of multimedia materials but also the delivery settings. Future work is needed to put forward the influences of the load elements caused in various platforms. The implications and suggestions for instructors who plan to design and teach online courses via web conferencing were also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The majority of multimedia learning studies focus on the use of graphics in learning process but very few of them examine the role of graphics in testing students' knowledge. This study investigates the use of static graphics versus animated graphics in a computer-based English achievement test from a cognitive load theory perspective. Three hundred and three 7th-grade students were randomly split into two groups and given the test questions either with static graphics or with animated graphics accompanied with text. Students' response time, response accuracy, self-reported ratings on cognitive load and secondary task approach were used to measure their cognitive load. Findings revealed that animating graphics increased the response time and secondary task scores of the students but did not have any significant effect on their test success. Furthermore, no difference was observed in self-reported cognitive loads. The relationship between the four different cognitive load measures was also examined in the study. No direct relation was found between self-reported ratings and secondary task scores. On the other hand, self-ratings and response accuracy were found to be more sensitive to intrinsic cognitive load, whereas response time and secondary task measures were found to be more sensitive to extraneous cognitive load in our testing environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cognitive resources available to the working memory system are finite. Under conditions of cognitive overload, a compromise may need to be made between the demands of storage and processing. Research suggests that the cognitive cost of partially automated transcription processes adversely affects written language production in children. Thus, children may be expected to perform the same task better orally than in writing. In order to determine whether this is the case in a Turkish context, three samples of participants, comprising 16 undergraduate students, 16 fifth-grade and 16 third-grade pupils, were required to perform oral and written serial recall of Turkish word lists. Recall mode did not interact significantly with age. In the adult sample, the combined samples of schoolchildren, and the fifth-grade sample of children written recall was significantly better than oral recall. This may reflect the transparency of Turkish orthography and/or the age of the participating children. However, when the test was administered in English, no effect of modality was observed in children. This suggests that when the additional cognitive costs of processing a less automated language are combined with transcription costs, the resources available to children in working memory for the storage of information are depleted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study deals with the instructional efficiency of integrating text and animation into computer-based science instruction. The participants were 84 seventh-grade students in a private primary school in Istanbul. The efficiency of instruction was measured by mental effort and performance level of the learners. The results of the study showed that processing integrated text and animation format in computer-based science instruction requires less mental effort than the separated format, and that the performance of the students in the group with integrated presentation format group is higher than that of students in the group with separated presentation format. Instructional efficiency of the integrated presentation group was found to be higher than that of the separated presentation group. Finally, there was no difference between the two groups for instructional time. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]