The Cognitive Load of Elementary School Students in the E-Learning Website—Permanent Homeland as an Example

• Main Authors: Hung-ju Wu, 吳泓儒
• Other Authors: Chao-Sheng Chang
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/02060414945814890075

碩士 === 義守大學 === 資訊管理學系碩士班 === 97 === With the advances of information technology and the prevalence of the Internet, more and more people adopt e-learning to enhance teaching and learning activities. The content of e-learning includes films, animations, words, images, and hyperlinks between websites. Although lots of information may enrich students’ learning, it could easily lead to cognitive load. The quasi-experimental method with static-group comparison design was applied to explore the effect of cognitive load on using e-learning websites. The subjects were 147 sixth-grade students of an elementary school in Kaohsiung County. The study investigated the correlation within cognitive load, e-learning attitude and learning achievement. The research instruments included: Cognitive Load Scale, Science Attitudinal Scale, E-learning Attitudinal Scale, Group Embedded Figures Test, Kolb’s Learning Styles Inventory (LSI), Index of Learning Styles (ILS) formulated by R.M. Felder and L.K. Silverman, and the science learning achievement test. The results show that there was no significant difference between students of different genders in terms of cognitive load. The cognitive load of divergers was lower than that of assimilators. In Felder-Silverman Learning Style, the cognitive load of reflective learners was lower than that of active learners in terms of information processing; the cognitive load of visual learners was lower than that of verbal learners in terms of information input. The cognitive load of field-independent learners was lower than that of field-dependent learners in terms of cognitive style. The higher the science learning achievement scores, the lower the cognitive load. The cognitive load of the high-attitude group was lower than that of the middle-attitude group or the low-attitude group. The correlation between students’ cognitive load and e-learning attitude was negatively related. The correlation between students’ cognitive load and learning achievement was negatively related. The correlation between students’ e-learning attitude and learning achievement was positively related. The correlation between students’ science learning attitude and learning achievement was positively related.