High experienced effort-by-complexity is not necessarily indicative of better learning outcomes¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · theoretical r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2024 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Higher experienced mental effort can reflect either more executed effective learning activities or lower prior knowledge, so high effort-by-complexity does not necessarily signal better learning. → Axel Grund 2024

Evidence¶

Axel Grund 2024¶

Axel Grund, Stefan Fries, Matthias Nückles, Alexander Renkl, Julian Roelle. (2024). When is Learning “Effortful”? Scrutinizing the Concept of Mental Effort in Cognitively Oriented Research from a Motivational Perspective. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09852-7

q2 · i? · theoretical · r3

Conceptual argument in the review's CLT section: prior knowledge substantially affects the degree to which processing requirements induce intrinsic/germane load, so "higher levels of experienced mental effort can reflect both a higher degree of executed effective learning activities or lower prior knowledge." Theoretical argument, no effect size.

"higher levels of experienced mental effort can reflect both a higher degree of executed effective learning activities or lower prior knowledge"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Students' self-reports of task effortfulness do not validly indicate a task's object-level cognitive requirements — related
• Segmentation Benefits Shrink With Expertise — related
• Prior knowledge and intervention condition predict repeated cognitive load and interest measures: prior knowledge lowers effort and difficulty and raises interest and understanding, and prompting groups perceive tasks as more difficult — related
• Domain-specific prior knowledge, mental effort and related ratings serve as moderator or dependent measures in the signaling study — related