Neurodiversity and cognitive load in online learning: A systematic review with narrative synthesis

Neurodiversity and cognitive load in online learning: A focus group study

“…According to the triarchic theory of cognitive load, intrinsic load is linked to the inherent difficulty of a specific topic, extraneous load changes depending on how instruction is delivered to the learner, and germane load varies based on the effort invested by the learner to create a permanent store of knowledge [ 18 ]. However, despite its potential importance to improve learning, little is known about how differently neurotypical and neurodivergent students experience cognitive load in online education [ 19 ].…”

Neurodiversity Positively Predicts Perceived Extraneous Load in Online Learning: A Quantitative Research Study

“…When considering the total sample, ICL, GCL, and ECL all significantly correlated with each other. Many studies with neurotypical populations have found such significant correlations between the three types of cognitive load, which has contributed to the debate as to how many types of cognitive load there really are [52,64,66,79,80]. This was the first study to explicitly explore these correlations in regard to neurodiversity, and the results revealed that, in our sample, the correlations between the three types of cognitive load only held true for neurotypical students.…”

“…Many interventions to reduce ECL have been tested in neurotypical students with varying degrees of success, for instance, by providing integrated information to avoid the split-attention effect or by teaching through worked examples [92]. However, there is a paucity of research investigating the efficacy of these interventions in students with ADHD [52]. Future research is needed to explore whether interventions that are shown to reduce ECL in neurotypical students are also effective for students with ADHD, or whether it might be necessary to adapt those interventions in order to support all students in neurodiverse classrooms.…”

“…Despite the presence of working memory impairments in these neurodevelopmental conditions and the rise of online learning, little attention has been paid to the relationship between neurodiversity and cognitive load in online learning. A systematic review of cognitive load in online learning found no investigation or report of neurodiversity in 92.2% of the included studies [52]. The few studies that did include neurodivergent participants found that attention, linguistic complexity, and content redundancy may impact cognitive load in online learning for this population [52].…”

“…A systematic review of cognitive load in online learning found no investigation or report of neurodiversity in 92.2% of the included studies [52]. The few studies that did include neurodivergent participants found that attention, linguistic complexity, and content redundancy may impact cognitive load in online learning for this population [52]. Furthermore, a focus group study found that neurodivergent students face specific challenges in managing their cognitive load during online learning, particularly in domains such as listening, writing, and decision making [53].…”