If you’ve ever had the thought, “I love the glorious chaos of letting my students thrash around in problem spaces,” please continue reading.
Originally developed by John Sweller, Cognitive Load Theory is built on the idea that our working memory is like a tiny post-it note; it can only hold so many details before something falls off and you end up running in circles.
Sweller famously wrote, “There seems to be no clear evidence that conventional problem solving is an efficient learning device and considerable evidence that it is not.”
He’s telling us that making learners solve complicated tasks from scratch especially if they lack the knowledge to handle them isn’t a shortcut to learning.
In plain language, cognitive load means how much mental heavy-lifting your brain does at any given time. If it’s too high, learning stalls. If it’s managed effectively, like giving just the right support, learning thrives.
The Problem with “Problem-Solving”
You’ve probably heard the refrain “Students need to learn how to solve problems by solving problems.” It sounds so… obvious. But according to Sweller, this is where we all get stuck in the proverbial mud.
- Means-Ends Analysis: This is a fancy way to describe a trial-and-error approach in which novices constantly compare where they are with the ultimate goal and make random (and often desperate) moves to reduce the gap. Sweller found this approach can consume all of a learner’s working memory like having too many browser tabs open, leaving no space to actually learn new strategies or store knowledge in long-term memory.
- Expert vs. Novice: If you’re an expert, you can rely on stored mental frameworks (called schemas) to quickly identify what strategy works best. But novices? They’re fumbling around in the dark, searching every nook and cranny for solutions. This is exactly how A. D. de Groot discovered that chess masters weren’t magical geniuses, but had memorized thousands of meaningful patterns.
- Think of a schema as a mental filing cabinet for a specific topic. The more advanced (expert) you are, the bigger and better organized your filing cabinet is, so you can reach for the “file” you need without rummaging around.
- Think of a schema as a mental filing cabinet for a specific topic. The more advanced (expert) you are, the bigger and better organized your filing cabinet is, so you can reach for the “file” you need without rummaging around.
- Daisy Christodoulou put it beautifully, explaining that experts “aren’t reasoning; they’re recalling,” thanks to their massive store of domain-specific knowledge.
In short, novices benefit from explicit guidance. Otherwise, they get bogged down in searching for answers instead of retaining them.
Classroom Applications
Many of us have tried inquiry-type tasks, and then watched half the class glaze over. Luckily, there are research-backed ideas beyond pure guesswork that let you reclaim your sanity and your students’ enthusiasm.
- Teach the Knowledge Before the Skill
Sweller’s research screams: you can’t problem-solve effectively unless you actually know something about the domain. So if you want kids to solve equations or design experiments, first teach them the relevant content and procedures. - Instead of generic “skills” that supposedly transfer anywhere, domain-specific knowledge means you understand a specific subject’s facts, procedures, and patterns like a musician learning chord progressions and scales first, so later they can jam fluidly.
- Use Interleaving Instead of Blocking
Interleaving means switching up the types of problems or questions, rather than drilling the same type over and over (that’s blocking). Research by Jeroen van Merriënboer and Paul Kirschner shows that mixing up problem types helps students see deeper connections and choose the right strategies. Think: ABCBCA, instead of AAABBB. - Be Wary of “Discovery Learning”
We all love to let kids explore, right? But if the territory is too unfamiliar, it’s like dropping them in the wilderness with a blindfold, a can of beans, and zero instructions. They’ll wander, sure but might not learn the survival skills you intended. Instead, use guided discovery: show them the path and let them explore side trails without getting lost. - Reduce the Mental Noise
Start simple, add complexity gradually. Provide worked examples early on models that show how to solve a problem step by step. Then, once students have built some mental frameworks, let them tackle more complex tasks on their own.
If your students’ working memory is overwhelmed, they can’t form sturdy mental concepts. The leaps you want them to make aren’t leaps at all they’re more like leaps off a cliff without a parachute.
The Challenge
So, my challenge for you should you not be too cognitively overloaded from reading all this is to take one lesson you’re about to teach and reduce the guesswork for students. Let them in on the background knowledge, the how, and the why of the process before unleashing them on the end goal. Notice if they’re more focused on learning and less bogged down by “Where do I even start?”
Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science, 12, 257–285. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15516709cog1202_4
For more information on this concept, read How Learning Happens: Seminal Works in Educational Psychology and What They Mean in Practice (https://a.co/d/a0tZSMR) This post is a summary of concepts from How Learning Happens.
School Intellect 