Schema

Managing cognitive load is something we teachers do without thinking about it. We take time to explain concepts and use flexible groups. We illustrate, demonstrate, immerse, re-cap, model, and take learners from concrete examples into abstract thoughts.

If you’ve never thought about cognitive load before this series of blog posts, you’ve still managed it.

You manage it yourself. After all, no one knows you better than you. Do you have a particular method for remembering something? Or a specific way of undertaking a new or unfamiliar task?

You have an entire memory bank … actually, let’s give it the correct name. Memory bank sounds too much like artificial intelligence. Spoiler alert: this blog is written by a human. There was a mistake in the first sentence of the previous teacher's post. I corrected it, but it sat unchecked on this website for a week. Duh!

Okay, back on track. Throw out the memory bank and substitute schema. A schema (the plural is schemas or schemata) is a collection of learned memories about one thing. We’re teachers, so let’s use a metaphor. There are dozens of sub-skills involved in operating a motor vehicle. When we get behind the wheel, we bring every one of them into our working memory.

But wait, doesn’t cognitive overload kick in between 6-10 items? How can we drive if there are dozens of items?

Answer: you don’t reach cognitive load because you bring the ‘driving a car schema’ into your working memory. One item!

Caution: it doesn’t mean we’ve got room in there to do other things like check our mobile phones. Because the driving schema is so large, your working memory must swap out skills and bring others to the front. Essential things like, you know, keeping our eyes on the road.