Have you ever been sitting in a talk listening, taking notes, then the slide changes or the topic moves on, and your brain just feels full?
Like you just can’t take anymore in?
This is cognitive load and it can wreck a presentation. 🧵👇
#PHDchat #AcademicSky #HigherEd
1/9
Like you just can’t take anymore in?
This is cognitive load and it can wreck a presentation. 🧵👇
#PHDchat #AcademicSky #HigherEd
1/9
Comments
Reiteration, summing up, signposting, all good things.
We’re really good at taking in information over time, but all at once?
Not so much.
2/9
This is cognitive overload and it's rife in #academia.
3/9
- Slides that are busy
- Graphs/charts
- Talking and reading at the same time
- Many new ideas in quick succession
- distractions in the room
4/9
Other factors can affect how much capacity someone has:
- being sleepy
- having too much to think about
- Sensitivity to sensory input
- How ‘engaging’ the speaker is
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The harder or more novel the information is for the audience to take in, the more processing power & time is needed.
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How many times have you seen someone put up a graph and say “Obviously you can see…” but it's not obvious to you, and before you can work it out they move on?
They know the graph and assume you can take in the info when actually you need more time.
7/9