Integrate essential information into biological pointers by presenting likely-to-be-externalized content with vivid, multimodal detail¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 4 claims (3 for, 1 against) · 1 study (1 review), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 4 claims rest on one study

Description¶

Because learners often retain only a pointer to externalized information, this strategy recommends presenting information likely to be externalized in a way that embeds key details into that pointer, e.g., linking monetary inflation inseparably to an increased money supply via multimodal visualization. The review states that "this strategy of integrating the most important information into pointers may inoculate people against false information and manipulation." It draws on embodied metaphor instruction and multimodal theories of mental representation.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Instructional design that identifies which information is likely to be externalized
• Multimodal or embodied presentation formats that bind essential details to the pointer

Constraints¶

• The exact contents of biological pointers are yet unknown, and the boundaries between pointers and gist memory may be hard to draw

Target Learners¶

• learners who offload information to digital stores

Target Learning Goals¶

• retaining essential conceptual content despite offloading
• resistance to memory manipulation

Affordances¶

• Cognitive Architecture Digital Externalization

Claims¶

• Difficulty and value of to-be-learned items determine which items children offload [+W]
• Learners rarely detect manipulation of offloaded information and may replace internal memory with altered external content [-W]
• Offloading information to external stores is associated with lower memory performance, moderated by awareness of a later test [+W]
• Access to web-based information creates illusions of learning and reduces memorization [+W]

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Alexander Skulmowski. (2023). The Cognitive Architecture of Digital Externalization. Educational Psychology Review, 35:101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09818-1