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MEASUREMENT OF COGNITIVE LOAD IN LEARNING COMPUTER GRAPHICS

Tayeef Mahmood

Student ID: 42299713

Project Supervisor: Dr. Manolya Kavakli

Semester 2, 2011

Date: 11/11/2011

ITEC810 Project Presentation

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PRESENTATION OUTLINEProject Aim IntroductionLiterature Review of Cognitive

LoadMethodologyResults and DiscussionsMy RecommendationsConclusion and Future Works

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PROJECT AIM To explore how students learn Computer

Graphics in order to support their learning process.

Investigate and Analysis of the collected data about student learning protocol.

To evaluate a measurement tool for the assessment of cognitive load during Computer Graphics (CG) Education.

The main problems faced by the students while learning CG Education.

The best possible ways to reduce the Cognitive Load (CL)

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COMPUTER GRAPHICS EDUCATION (CGE)

CGE is a new field which is constantly changing.

Lack of Research. Demanding to contribute the growing needs

of the film, games, virtual reality industries. Involves the study of three important fields:

Mathematics Programming Spatial reasoning

Deals with 2D and 3D Computer Graphics.

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COGNITIVE LOAD (CL) CL is used in Psychology to explain the load related

to the control of working memory The load of working memory during an instruction. It is necessary to identify learner’s problem solving

skills including perception, memory, language, etc. CL consists of three main aspects

Mental Load - the interaction between task and subject characteristics

Mental Effort - refers to the cognitive capacity that is actually allocated to accommodate the demands imposed by the task

Performance- is defined in terms of learner’s achievements.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

Basic Assumption Learning happens best under instructional

conditions that are aligned with our cognitive architecture

Concerned with The instructional control of the high cognitive

load that is typically associated with the learning of complex cognitive tasks.

COGNITIVE LOAD THEORY (CLT)

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COGNITIVE ARCHITECTURE

Perceive Incoming Information

Attend to Information Limited Capacity Limited Duration Separate Processors

Unlimited Capacity Permanently store

knowledge and skills

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THREE TYPES OF COGNITIVE LOAD

Intrinsic Cognitive Load Caused by the structure and complexity of the

task. Amount of informational units a learner needs to

hold in working memory to get the information Extraneous Cognitive Load

Forced by the design and method in which information is presented

The extra load beyond the intrinsic cognitive load resulting mainly from poorly designed instruction

Germane Cognitive Load Considered as good load and the human nature

wants to maximize it.

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MEASURING COGNITIVE LOAD

LOW Suppose yesterday was Sunday. What day of the

week is tomorrow?

HIGH Suppose 6 days after the day before yesterday is

Sunday. What day of the week is tomorrow?

A DEMONSTRATION

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MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES Measurement Methods for assessing the CL

can be divided as objectivity (subjective or objective) causal relation (direct or indirect)

Different measurement methods of CL: Indirect, subjective measuresDirect, subjective measures Indirect, objective measuresDirect, objective measure

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HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV) & SKIN CONDUCTIVITY LEVEL (SCL)

HRV The variation over time of the period between

consecutive heartbeats Is thought to reflect the heart’s ability to adapt to

changing circumstances state of the autonomic nervous system

SCL Electrical resistance of the skin: generalized

measure of autonomic arousal and also a measure of attention

Arousal level: effort and performance well and fast High arousal: High level of awareness – high

performance Low arousal: Low performance and increased effort

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METHODOLOGY Analysis and Compare the 2D and 3D Tasks

Reaction Time Analysis based on HRV and SCL Results

2D Tasks 3D Tasks

Comparative Analysis of Spatial Test Method Dual Task Method

Primary Task Secondary Task

Analysis of Self Rating Questions

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RESULTS & DISCUSSIONAVERAGE REACTION TIME

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 110

5

10

15

20

25

Average Reaction time (in sec)

Average Reaction time (in sec)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 110

5

10

15

20

25

30

Reaction Time (in sec)

Reaction Time (in sec)

2D

3D

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COMPARISON OF 2D AND 3D TASKREACTION TIME

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 110

5

10

15

20

25

30

Average Reaction time in 2D Task(in sec)

Average Reaction time in 3D Task(in sec)

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HRV & SCL FOR 2D AND 3D TASK

2D

3D

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HRV & SCL FOR 2D AND 3D TASK

Student 1 Student 2 Student 3 Student 40.902

0.903

0.904

0.905

0.906

0.907

0.908

0.909

HRV 2DHRV 3D

Student 1 Student 2 Student 3 Student 40

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

SCL 2DSCL 3D

HRV

SCL

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COMPARISON OF SPATIAL TEST & DUAL TASK METHOD

Spatial Test: Average Mark: 15 out of 20 Range between 9 and 18

Dual Task Method: Primary task:

2D task has an average of 72% completion rate 3D task has an average of 36% completion rate

Secondary task 2D task

Average of 88% right answers Longest time taken to submit to change the square color-

60 seconds 3D task

Average of 94.08% Longest time taken to submit to change the square color-

110 seconds

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MY RECOMMENDATIONSMAIN PROBLEMS FACED BY STUDENTS

Identifying and classifying sources of high element interactivity in computer programming and developing strategies.

Limited Working Memory Capacity. Time Limit create more Mental Load From simple example to a complex problem. Unnecessary visual elements in the learning

interface Big chunk of information is hard to

understand and remember

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Partitioning of information into small segments and simultaneous presentation of concepts and procedures in demonstrations

Broad practice using partially-completed examples

Gradual withdrawal of supporting information from practice tasks

Decomposition of practice tasks into small steps then gradual integration into a complete skill

Careful integration of text and graphics Goal- free problem solving Visual and aural sources for learning

MY RECOMMENDATIONSBEST POSSIBLE WAYS TO REDUCE CL

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CONCLUSION The findings of the analysis:

3D tasks have high cognitive load than 2D tasks Skin Conductivity Level is a good technique to

measure Cognitive Load. Time Limit put extra mental load and mental

effort The measurements techniques may fail to

determine the actual cognitive load of a student as it is a psychological term.

Mental Effort is an important factor for Cognitive Load.

More research needed in this area to get a clear view.

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FUTURE WORK Investigating the use of multimodal instruction

in learning complex computer programming concepts

Investigating the identification of students’ prior schematic computing content knowledge

New psychological approaches to cognitive load measurement like subjective time estimation & functional magnetic resonance imaging

To examine the possibility to use the combined mental effort and performance measures in intelligent interactive learning systems

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ANY QUESTIONS?

THANK YU