Wickham, G., & Spencer, M. (2023, June), Work in Progress: Re-Interpreting Engineering Laboratory Literature Through the Lens of Cognitive Load  Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--44341

\bibitem{asee_peer_44341}
  Wickham, G., \& Spencer, M. (2023, June), \emph{Work in Progress: Re-Interpreting Engineering Laboratory Literature Through the Lens of Cognitive Load}
  Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland.
  10.18260/1-2--44341

Gregory Wickham and Matthew Spencer.  "Work in Progress: Re-Interpreting Engineering Laboratory Literature Through the Lens of Cognitive Load".  2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland, 2023, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2023.  https://peer.asee.org/44341 Internet.  03 Jan, 2025

\bibitem{asee_peer_44341}
  Gregory Wickham and Matthew Spencer.
  "Work in Progress: Re-Interpreting Engineering Laboratory Literature Through the Lens of Cognitive Load".
  \emph{2023 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland, 2023, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2023.
  https://peer.asee.org/44341 Internet.  03 Jan, 2025

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_44341
author = "Gregory Wickham and Matthew Spencer"
title = "Work in Progress: Re-Interpreting Engineering Laboratory Literature Through the Lens of Cognitive Load"
booktitle = "2023 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2023"
month = "June"
address = "Baltimore , Maryland"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/44341}
number = {10.18260/1-2--44341}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This WIP theory paper argues laboratory and engineering project classes can produce high cognitive load by pursuing many learning objectives at the same time. It further argues that courses where students work in teams are particularly prone to producing high cognitive load because the interdependence required to produce positive group dynamics necessarily creates higher cognitive load.

    This argument is rooted in literature that articulates the learning objectives of laboratory classes and suggests that laboratory activities can pursue many learning objectives at once. This is combined with a review of cognitive load literature to suggest that large numbers of learning objectives can contribute to cognitive load. Other literature on engineering group projects reveals that group work can produce cognitive load in its attempts to foster interdependency, and that this can result in maladaptive team behaviors like specialization and attentional narrowing.

    In response to these observations, this paper seeks to define features of laboratories that can trigger this cognitive-load-based loss of learning. It suggests future experimental and theoretical work to define these features.
AU  - Gregory Wickham
AU  - Matthew Spencer
CY  - Baltimore , Maryland
DA  - 2023/06/25
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Work in Progress: Re-Interpreting Engineering Laboratory Literature Through the Lens of Cognitive Load
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/44341
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--44341
ER  -