Online Content Sequencing

There has been on-going research in the area of redesigning and migrating courses online, especially on effective methods to sequence content to maximize student processing. An example of this research is published by Bolkan and Goodboy (2020) entitled, "Instruction, example, order and student learning: Reducing extraneous cognitive load by providing structure for elaborated examples." The authors found that "placing concrete examples after abstract definitions in an assigned text resulted in higher scores on tests of information recall and retention." These findings may be limited to measuring how well students can recall linear, low level facts for a forced-choice exam. Alternatively, there is substantial research offering a Concrete to Abstract approach (American Institute for Research, 2016) that has shown sharing specific, applied examples first, provides a substrate for students to connect conceptual theories.

Of course learning is a complex process, so this approach is not a panacea for all online courses. It does raise the question of how we sequence our content material to reduce cognitive load and empower novice learners. There are many ways to design learning material, many of which are detailed in Texas Tech Universities "Content Sequencing in Instructional Design" table. This list includes the sequence term, definition and examples for Concrete-Abstract, Deductive, Easy-to-Difficult, Hierarchical, Procedural and Scaffolding. For more information on how to integrate these sequencing, you may wish to refer to our March 2019 SoTL Blog article on the concept of Cognitive Load Theory (CLT); and the October 2020 SoTL Blog sharing research on Eyler's (2018) science of learning from his book, How Humans Learn.

References

Bolkan, S., & Goodboy, A. (2020) Instruction, example order, and student learning: Reducing extraneous cognitive load by providing structure for elaborated examples, Communication Education, 69(3), 300-316. DOI:10.1080/03634523.2019.1701196.

Morrison, G., Ross, J., & Kemp, J. (2007). Designing Effective Instruction (5th Ed). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Reigeluth, C. M., & Keller, J. B. (2009). Understanding instruction. In C. M. Reigeluth (Eds.), Instructional-design theories and models: Building a common knowledge base (pp. 27-39). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.