Learning and assessment with images: A view of cognitive load through the lens of cerebral blood flow

Abstract

is the senior instructional designer and coordinator of digital learning and simulation at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Western Ontario. His research focuses is on educational technology and the impact on the learner and performance. He has taught graduated level courses in the field of Educational Technology focusing on 21st century teaching and learning (Email: Jay.Loftus@schulich.uwo.ca). Michele Jacobsen PhD is associate dean of graduate programs in education and a professor in the Learning Sciences in the Werklund School of Education. Her research and teaching focuses on technology-enabled learning and teaching in K-12 classrooms, schools, school jurisdictions and post-secondary contexts using case study, inquiry and designbased approaches to research (Email: dmjacobs@ucalgary.ca). Timothy D. Wilson PhD is an associate professor in AbstractUnderstanding the relationship between cognitive processing and learner performance on tasks using digital media has become increasingly important as the transition towards online learning programs increases. Determining the impact of implementation of instructional resources is often limited to performance outcomes and comparisons to the status quo. This study measured changes in cerebral blood velocity (CBV) of the right middle cerebral artery during visual learning tasks using static images. Transcranial Doppler ultrasonography was used to compare the changes in CBV during learning of individuals with high and low spatial ability. Our results show that there is a slight increase from baseline values of CBV in individuals with high spatial ability during the learning task for the present study. In contrast, individuals with low spatial ability experience a decrement from baseline during the learning task. These results suggest spatial ability mitigates cognitive load and potentially has an impact on learner performance on visual learning tasks.

Student and recent graduate perspectives on radiological imaging instruction during basic anatomy courses

“…There is also some suggestion in the cognitive psychology literature that spatial reasoning ability should be selected for in future physicians for specialties broadly, not just radiology (Hegarty et al, ). These findings in the medical literature are supported by generally positive associations found in anatomy literature as well (Rochford, ; Garg et al, ; Guillot et al, ; Lufler et al, ; Sweeney et al, ), and these concepts are supported by recent physiologic findings of brain perfusion changes during spatial tasks (Loftus et al, ).…”

The Persistence of Neuromyths in the Educational Settings: A Systematic Review

“…Even though the emerging neuroeducation seemed to be received with enthusiasm, it was not without controversy and skepticism (Cuthbert, 2015) and this "gap" has always been present as a maximum representative of the distance between sciences, neurosciences, and education (Hardiman et al, 2012;Howard-Jones, 2014). Likewise, specific neuroimaging technology uses have been labeled as premature for educational research (Loftus et al, 2017). For example, Bruer (1999) has described this 30-year path almost from the beginning.…”

What Use is Anatomy in First Opinion Small Animal Veterinary Practice? A Qualitative Study

“…Mental imagery has been shown to significantly improve the acquisition and execution of technical skills (Epstein, 1980; Driskell et al, 1994; Bohan et al, 1999), has been implicated as important in surgical skills development (Bathalon et al, 2005; Arora et al, 2011) as well as in the development of palpation skills (Esteves and Spence, 2013). Similarly, spatial ability, its importance, and its apparent malleability as a trait (Baenninger and Newcombe, 1989; Hoyek et al, 2009; Lufler et al, 2012) have been widely discussed within the anatomy education literature (e.g., Garg et al, 2001, 2002; Guillot et al, 2007; Hegarty et al, 2008; Lufler et al, 2012; Vorstenbosch et al, 2013; Nguyen et al, 2014; Sweeney et al, 2014; Berney et al, 2015; Delisser and Carwardine, 2017; Gutierrez et al, 2017; Loftus et al, 2017). Given the indication in the current study that haptic and spatial skills are integral to the application of anatomical knowledge in clinical practice, recent efforts within anatomy education to advance development of such skills (e.g., Hegarty et al, 2008; Gutierrez et al, 2017; Roach et al, 2018; Bogomolova et al, 2020) appear to be well grounded and conceived.…”