Design intuitive, multisensory, layered visualizations with evolving assessment to reduce cognitive load¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The article's third design guideline calls for clear visual aids such as familiar graphs, heatmaps, and step-by-step animations to improve comprehension of complex mechanics concepts and reduce cognitive effort, together with layered visualizations that progressively introduce complex relations. It also recommends that evaluation extend beyond traditional testing: "evaluation approaches should extend beyond traditional testing to include engagement and conceptual understanding, supported by adaptive feedback and instructional scaffolding."

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Visualizations must be clear, familiar, and layered so complex relations are introduced progressively

Constraints¶

• Poorly aligned or complex visualizations can hinder understanding, per the article's conclusion

Target Learners¶

• engineering students with varied learning preferences

Target Learning Goals¶

• comprehension of complex mechanics concepts with reduced extraneous cognitive load

Related Strategies¶

• Integrate mixed-reality visualization with physical interaction rather than relying on a single modality
• Multisensory Encoding
• Multiple Representations Visual Representations
• Multisensory Teaching
• Multiple Modalities for Perceiving Information

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Rakib, M. A. N., Akter, S., Sridhar, E. P., Biswas, S., Raihan, M. R., & Rahman, M. (2025). Visualizing Engineering Fundamentals: Design of Mixed Reality and Physical Toolkits for Effective Learning. Manuscript under review at Ergonomics in Design: The Quarterly of Human Factors Applications. https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.00979. doi:10.48550/arxiv.2607.00979