I found your post to be very valuable since Cognitive Load Theory has implications for instructional design. Reading your post has prompted me to research further on the subject with a view to enhancing my instructional design skills. Instructional designers should strive to design learning materials that have the potential to reduce the cognitive load of learners, thus making the learning process effective. The manner in which learning material is organized and presented plays a part in reducing cognitive load (Chandler & Sweller, 1991), for example appropriate combination of audio and visual techniques.
After going through the literature, I have also noted that while it is important to provide novice learners with instructional guidance in order to reduce possible cognitive overload, this technique can be counter-productive to experienced learners (Artino, 2008). Paas, Renkl and Sweller (2003) suggest that as the level of leaner expertise increases, it is appropriate to decrease instructor control and increase learner control in the learning process.
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