E‐Learning: effective or defective? The impact of commercial e‐learning tools on learner cognitive load and anatomy instruction (725.7)

Traditionally, educational researchers have focused on Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) to guide the design of novel e‐learning tools. However, there is little evidence to suggest that the design of commercially available e‐learning tools has been guided by educational theories, including CLT. As e‐learning tools gain popularity as methods of instruction in anatomy education, more research is merited to gauge the impact of these tools on learner cognitive load. This study aims to examine three commercially available anatomical e‐learning tools to determine their effect on learner cognitive load. Anatomy students at Western University will be invited to participate in this study, and will be randomly assigned to view all three e‐learning tools; each featuring the anatomy of a selected joint. To quantify the cognitive load that each tool places on the learner, a dual task methodology (a paradigm wherein the learner performs two tasks simultaneously) will be utilized. Learning material from an e‐learning tool will be assigned as a primary task and visual observation will be assigned as a secondary task. Learners will be assessed using a baseline anatomy knowledge test, secondary task response times, and an anatomy knowledge post‐test. We hypothesize that longer reaction times on the secondary task indicate a high cognitive load imposed by the primary task, and will result in poor performance on the knowledge post‐test.