Reducing Cognitive Overload for Students in Higher Education: A Course Design Case Study

As faculty, we teach complex subjects across various disciplines to adult learners who bring unique knowledge, experiences, and motivations. In instances where the subject matter is taught too quickly, is vague, or is above the learners’ level of existing knowledge, students can be left feeling overwhelmed and frustrated, and ultimately experiencing cognitive overload. Cognitive overload diminishes both student’s capacity to learn and overall academic success. All faculty—particularly faculty who teach challenging topics—need to consider their role in managing students’ cognitive load. We begin by introducing cognitive overload, student learning and engagement, and teaching effectiveness. Next, we introduce our conceptual framework which guided the development of our course. From there, we examine strategies and techniques that undergraduate and graduate level faculty can integrate within their classrooms. Finally, we outline implications and tools to (1) decrease cognitive overload, (2) enhance student learning, and (3) expand knowledge pertaining to cognitive overload while offering direction for future research.