雅思阅读

📖 Reading Passage

The concept of 'cognitive load' refers to the total amount of mental effort being used in the working memory. In educational psychology, it is often divided into three types: intrinsic, extraneous, and germane. Intrinsic load is inherent to the complexity of the material itself, while extraneous load is generated by the way information is presented to the learner. Germane load, on the other hand, is the effort devoted to processing and understanding the material, which directly contributes to learning. Research suggests that instructional design should aim to minimize extraneous load to free up cognitive resources for germane processing. However, reducing intrinsic load is more challenging, as it depends on the learner's prior knowledge and the element interactivity of the subject matter. Therefore, effective teaching strategies often involve scaffolding to gradually introduce complex concepts, allowing learners to build schemas without overwhelming their working memory.