Cognitive load theory and music instruction

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Copyright: Owens, Paul
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Abstract
Cognitive load theory assumes that effective instructional design is subject to the mechanisms that underpin our cognitive architecture and that understanding is constrained by the processing capacity of a limited working memory. This thesis reports the results of six experiments that applied the principles of cognitive load theory to the investigation of instructional design in music. Across the six experiments conditions differed by modality (uni or dual) and/or the nature of presentation (integrated or adjacent; simultaneous or successive). In addition, instructional formats were comprised of either two or three sources of information (text, auditory musical excerpts, musical notation). Participants were academically able Year 7 students with some previous musical experience. Following instructional interventions, students were tested using auditory and/or written problems; in addition, subjective ratings and efficiency measures were used as indicators of mental load. Together, Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated the benefits of both dual-modal (dual-modality effect) and physically integrated formats over the same materials presented as adjacent and discrete information sources (split-attention effect), confirming the application of established cognitive load effects within the domain of music. Experiment 3 compared uni-modal formats, consisting of auditory rather than visual materials, with their dual-modal counterparts. Although some evidence for a modality effect was associated with simultaneous presentations, the uni-modal format was clearly superior when the same materials were delivered successively. Experiment 4 compared three cognitively efficient instructional formats in which either two or three information sources were studied. There was evidence that simultaneously processing all three sources overwhelmed working memory, whereas an overlapping design that delayed the introduction of the third source facilitated understanding. Experiments 5 and 6 varied the element interactivity of either two- or three- source formats and demonstrated the negative effects of splitting attention between successively presented instructional materials. Theoretical implications extend cognitive load principles to both the domain of music and across a range of novel instructional formats; future research into auditory only formats and the modality effect is suggested. Recommendations for instructional design highlight the need to facilitate necessary interactions between mutually referring musical elements and to maintain intrinsic cognitive load within working memory capacity.
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Owens, Paul
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Publication Year
2005
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Thesis
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PhD Doctorate
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