Content Overload And Its Effects On Learning

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Date

2021

Authors

Moe, Erika
DuBrow, Sarah
Aasum, Bjarne

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of Oregon

Abstract

The asynchronous nature of remote classes brought by COVID-19 provides students greater control over their daily studies and has proven to be a double-edged sword. To better understand the effect of a growing asynchronous workload, subjects will complete two scenarios: one with a condensed, structured workload (2-topic condition) and another with a larger workload (8-topic condition). It is hypothesized that increasing workload (creating a “content overload”) will have detrimental effects on all students. Furthermore, individuals who prefer remote learning will perform best with larger presented workloads. Individuals who prefer in-person learning will perform best with a structured, condensed presented workload. Subjects will read passages on a variety of academic topics and they will be tested the next day in a SAT-like format. Additionally, pre- and post-test questionnaires will be completed for correlations between learning preference and differences between conditions. A paired t-test for within-subject analysis will compare the average test results of the 2-topic and 8-topic conditions. The results of this study will provide insight into how COVID online classes have affected the comprehension of the student population. With a better understanding of the content overload effect, educational workers will have the opportunity to better tailor their remote lesson plans for a diverse body of students with different attentional, memory, and cognitive abilities.

Description

1 page.

Keywords

Learning, Stress, COVID-19, Remote Learning, Preference

Citation