Variations in material design are reflected in the extraneous cognitive load scale: worked examples and integrated formats lower ECL¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · causal r1 · q2 · i3 large
Currency · newest study 2020 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

Reading the evidence codes

q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.

This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.

q2 i3 In the mathematics study, the worked examples group reported lower ECL than the problem-solving group. → Melina Klepsch 2020 q2 i3 In the biology study, the integrated format group reported significantly lower ECL than the split-source group. → Melina Klepsch 2020 (2)

Evidence¶

Melina Klepsch 2020¶

Melina Klepsch, Tina Seufert. (2020). Understanding instructional design effects by differentiated measurement of intrinsic, extraneous, and germane cognitive load. Instructional Science (2020) 48:45–77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-020-09502-9

q2 · i3 · causal · r?

Between-subject experiment (N = 40) comparing problem solving versus worked examples in mathematics learning material. The article reports the worked examples group "reported to be lower" ECL, with η2 = 0.19.

"For ECL, as expected, we found a main effect (F(1,38) = 8.91, p < 0.01 η2 = 0.19): In the worked examples group, ECL was reported to be lower than in the group without worked examples."

Melina Klepsch 2020 (2)¶

q2 · i3 · causal · r1

Between-subject experiment (N = 51) comparing split-source versus integrated text-picture formats for biology material about the kidney, with age as covariate. The integrated group reported significantly lower ECL, η2 = 0.17.

"For ECL, as expected, we found a main effect (F(1,48) = 9.60, p < 0.01 η2 = 0.17): In the integrated format group, ECL was reported to be significantly lower than in the split source group."

Discussion¶

Cognitive Overload Degrades Learning — a broader claim this one bears on
Students using ChatGPT 3.5 experience lower extraneous cognitive load than students using Google during a web research task — related
Task difficulty (easy vs difficult simultaneous-equation problems) has significant main effects on intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load, but not on germane load — related

Page metadata

Field	Value
`type`	`claim`
`id`	`design-variations-reflected-in-ecl-scale`
`title`	`Variations in material design are reflected in the extraneous cognitive load scale: worked examples and integrated formats lower ECL`
`description`	`Variations in material design are reflected in the extraneous cognitive load scale: worked examples and integrated formats lower ECL`
`status`	`review`
`evidence_strength`	`moderate`
`newest_evidence`	`2020`
`generated`	by `process:wiki-ingest` on `2026-10-18`
`trust`	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
`sources`	2 — `melina-klepsch-2020`, `melina-klepsch-2020-2`

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