Ingenuity Labs Presents: Dr. Nadine Marcus

Join us for this talk by Dr. Nadine Marcus

Cognitive Load in Complex Environments: Real-Time Measures, Stress Interactions, and Learning Outcomes

Abstract:

Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) describes the architecture of our cognition and provides guidance on how to apply this to the design of effective instructional materials and training. It has been used to develop many empirically validated methods for learning design in both educational and applied settings. Measuring CLT is an important tool towards the goal of creating well designed learning materials and online training systems. Many different methods have been used to measure load in real-time and these will be summarised in terms of those that have proven to be most useful within our research lab.  Recent research that looks at interactions between stress, CL and performance measures will also be discussed.  These findings have potential applications to the creation of real-time adaptative learning systems, which can adapt to individual differences (such as gender, stress and knowledge levels).  Finally, these adaptations will be discussed within the context of how real-time CL measurement could be applied to dynamic, complex, high-load environments, offering insights into practical implementation and future research directions.

Biography:

Dr Nadine Marcus is an Associate Professor in the School of Computer Science & Engineering, UNSW, Australia.  She co-leads the Computing & Education research group and teaches Human Computer Interaction. She has multidisciplinary research interests that includes the design of multimedia educational technology to improve human performance and learning; collection of empirical data to inform instructional design theories; and novel measures of cognitive load to inform interface design and create adaptive learning. She is an internationally recognised Cognitive Load Theory researcher who has been influential in the development of the Animation effect, Transient information effect and Embodied cognitive load related effects.  Her Educational Technology research led to the eLearning commercialization, Smartsparrow, which was acquired by Pearson Education. Her leadership in the field is evidenced by her extensive publications in highly ranked international peer reviewed journals and conferences, high citations and extensive funding within Educational Technology, Cognitive Psychology, Human Computer Interaction & Human Factors.