Highlights
- •CLT can explain why learners struggle to master complex concepts and develop expertise.
- •The human cognitive system has a limited capacity that can retain only 7 elements of information.
- •There are 3 types of cognitive load that explains the limited resources of the working memory.
- •CLT can help clinical teachers maximize the efficiency of their teaching efforts.
Abstract
Internal medicine is an appropriate example of specialties in which to teach learners
clinical reasoning skills, decision-making, and analytical thinking, as well as evidence-based,
patient-oriented medicine. During daily clinical work, general internists always encounter
a multitude of situations that lend themselves to educating medical trainees in ambulatory
and inpatient settings. Application of existing learning theories to teaching has
been shown to optimize teaching ability and to maximize the efficiency of teaching
efforts.
Cognitive Load Theory explains learning according to three important aspects: the
types of memory (working and long-term memory), the learning process and the forms
of cognitive load that affect our learning.
The aim of this paper is to show the main perspectives and implications of the Cognitive
Load Theory on clinical educational practices. It is important to give the right amount
of information in the most effective way to learners, thereby making this information
more useful. This article presents a concise overview of the basis of the Cognitive
Load Theory in its first part, and, in its second part, it exposes the practical applications
of this theory with examples. This learning theory will encourage clinical teachers
to reflect on how to foster learning in medical trainees in the more effective way.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 01, 2018
Accepted:
August 27,
2018
Received in revised form:
August 16,
2018
Received:
June 28,
2018
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
