The empirical evidence described in this book indicates that instructional designs and procedures that are cognitively optimal for less knowledgeable learners may not be optimal for more advanced learners. Instructional designers or instructors need to evaluate accurately the learner levels of expertise to design or select optimal instructional procedures and formats. Frequently, learners need to be assessed in real time during an instructional session in order to adjust the design of further instruction appropriately. Traditional testing procedures may not be suitable for this purpose. The following chapters describe a cognitive load approach to the development of rapid schema-based tests of learner expertise. The proposed methods of cognitive diagnosis will be based on contemporary knowledge of human cognitive architecture and will be further used as means of optimising cognitive load in learner-tailored computer-based learning environments.

The book explores a cognitive load perspective on instructional guidance. Cognitive load theory is focused on instructional design implications and prescriptions that flow from human cognitive architecture, and it has become one of the leading theories of instructional design. According to this theoretical perspective, the purpose of instructional guidance is to reduce learner potential cognitive overload by providing appropriate information in the right time and in a suitable format. As the learner’s level of prior knowledge is considered as the main factor influencing this decision, the effect of learner prior knowledge on effectiveness of instructional methods (the expertise reversal effect in cognitive load theory) provides the basic framework for the book. The fully-guided direct instruction and minimally-guided inquiry (discovery or exploratory) learning are often discussed in instructional psychology literature as examples of approaches with opposed degrees of guidance provided to the learners. This book considers the whole range of the levels of guidance (including intermediate levels) and approaches the problem of balancing learner guidance from a cognitive load perspective. The significance of this approach is in applying our current knowledge of human cognitive architecture to develop an integrated instructional approach bringing together the best features and advantages of direct instruction and inquiry learning. Both direct instruction and inquiry learning approaches have been around for long time, and their proponents can produce evidence of their effectiveness. This evidence needs to be treated within the context of appropriate learning goals in specific instructional settings for specific types of learners. This book provides an unbiased theoretical framework for managing learner instructional guidance and working principles for selecting appropriate levels and methods of instructional guidance (e.g., sequences of exploratory problems and explicit instruction; forms and levels of embedded guidance; and adapting methodologies) optimal for learners at different levels of prior knowledge.

"This book presents contributed chapters for professionals who want to improve their understanding of online learning and develop their skills in designing and managing online courses offering different aspects of a successful distance education system and can be a guide for the institutions and the instructors offering distance education courses"--

"Provides theory and research-based recommendations on information presentation techniques for multimedia and e-learning environments. Focuses on extensively researched principles and methodologies, offering comprehensive research and practical implications while providing concrete examples on adaptive multimedia learning."--Publisher description.

Cognitive load theory uses our knowledge of how people learn, think and solve problems to design instruction. In turn, instructional design is the central activity of classroom teachers, of curriculum designers, and of publishers of textbooks and educational materials, including digital information. Characteristically, the theory is used to generate hypotheses that are tested using randomized controlled trials. Cognitive load theory rests on a base of hundreds of randomized controlled trials testing many thousands of primary and secondary school children as well as adults. That research has been conducted by many research groups from around the world and has resulted in a wide range of novel instructional procedures that have been tested for effectiveness. Advances in Cognitive Load Theory, in describing current research, continues in this tradition. Exploring a wide range of instructional issues dealt with by the theory, it covers all general curriculum areas critical to educational and training institutions and outlines recent extensions to other psycho-educational constructs including motivation and engagement. With contributions from the leading figures from around the world, this book provides a one-stop-shop for the latest in cognitive load theory research and guidelines for how the findings can be applied in practice.

Ten Steps to Complex Learning presents a path from an educational problem to a solution in a way that students, practitioners, and researchers can understand and easily use. Students in the field of instructional design can use this book to broaden their knowledge of the design of training programs for complex learning. Practitioners can use this book as a reference guide to support their design of courses, curricula, or environments for complex learning. Now fully revised to incorporate the most current research in the field, this third edition of Ten Steps to Complex Learning includes many references to recent research as well as two new chapters. One new chapter deals with the training of 21st-century skills in educational programs based on the Ten Steps. The other deals with the design of assessment programs that are fully aligned with the Ten Steps. In the closing chapter, new directions for the further development of the Ten Steps are discussed.

New Program EASA 2021 : This volume is part of the ATPL(A) series of text books which is published in partnership by ENAC and Institut MERMOZ, in cooperation with AIRBUS. These books are fully compliant with ATPL(A).