Efficiency in Learning: Evidence-Based Guidelines to Manage Cognitive Load

Chapter 10. Accommodate Differences in Learner Expertise

INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS that promote efficient learning serve as substitutes for missing schemas in the long-term memory of novices. However, as a learner gains expertise, her new schemas compensate for limited working memory capacity. Many of the instructional methods that are effective for novices either have no effect or, in some cases, depress the learning of learners with more expertise. This outcome is called the expertise reversal effect. As a result, training designed for learners with greater prior knowledge requires different instructional methods than does training designed for novices. ...