What is Cognitive Load Theory?

And how can it improve the way you learn?

Cognitive load theory explains how we process and remember information, and how too much (or too complex) information is harmful to learning. Here’s how we can manage cognitive load in our lessons, and 5 principles to reduce cognitive load for our students.

As teachers, cognitive load theory is a key principle that should inform teaching decisions we make, as it can critically affect our students’ learning outcomes.

Where did Cognitive Load Theory Come From?

Sometimes abbreviated to CLT (although don’t confuse it with ‘Communicative Language Teaching’!), cognitive load theory came from research into problem-solving by John Sweller in the 1980s.

Sweller built on previous research that showed that working memory has a limited capacity and described the relationship between working and long-term memory.

This diagram shows the rough process of processing and remembering information:

As you receive information, the senses pass some of it onto your working memory, while some is…