My tutor, Santanu Vasant, observed one of my teaching sessions as part of the TPP unit. He highlighted some interesting points of improvement one of which, centred around cognitive load, “At 20 minutes in, I experienced a little cognitive overload.” He suggested I consider the following:
- Provide overview slides to sub-sections – there could be an overview slide of staff and how they all fit together, to help the students visual the bigger picture of their studies. See my micro-CPD session on Dual Coding (Sept 2022) for an example.
I was intrigued to watch the session as I usually teach a lecture 1-2 times per year, which includes cognitive load theory in relation to report layout, but I was not familiar with dual coding theory (Sweller et al., 2011). Typically, I reference Malamed (2011) and Ware (2011) in terms of visual processing but dual coding theory could add a new dimension to both my presentations as well as how I help students to learn how best to present their work for ease of communication. The application of Caviglioli’s (2019) theory demonstrated by Vasant (2022) is compelling. Using a visualisation of an organigram versus a verbal explanation clearly demonstrated the theory – it was much easier to understand the organisational structure using a visual aid.
I could use this theory in my own presentations to clarify complex information. Where this might be particularly useful is to explain how the content in the sessions relates back to the assessment brief. In my experience, students find it helpful to know exactly which part of the lecture or seminar content relates to what they are expected to produce.
References
Caviglioli. O. (2019) Dual Coding for Teaching. Available at: https://www.olicav.com/s/Dual-Coding-2019-6.pdf Accessed: 15th March 2023
Malamed, C. (2011) Visual language for designers: principles for creating graphics that people understand. Beverly, Mass: Rockport.
Sweller, J., Ayres, P., & Kalyuga, S. (2011). Cognitive load theory. New York, NY: Springer.
Vasant, S. (2022) Dual Coding Theory. Available at: https://ual.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=e801907b-69bb-473d-881b-af96011c0bce Accessed: 15th March 2023
Ware, C. (2013) Information visualization: perception for design. London: Morgan Kaufmann.