Term 1, Week 6, 2026

The Science of Learning – Cognitive Load Theory – Extraneous Load

In my last post, I briefly summarised the Science of Learning which underpins our curriculum and informs our teaching and learning programmes. I also outlined the importance of daily review in our learning programmes to support the transfer of learners knowledge from short-term memory to long-term memory.

Another Science of Learning strategy that we use in our learning spaces at our kura is reducing cognitive load. There are two types of cognitive load – intrinsic (level of complexity of a task) and extraneous load (distractions away from the task).

This year we have made changes to our classroom environments to support the reduction of extraneous load for our learners. That is, to reduce the number of distractions.

Here are some of the changes that teachers have made.

• Coloured spots on the mat indicating where the learners sit, thus reducing the load associated with choosing where to sit.
• Consistent and practiced routines and expectations.
• An agreed learning language that is used across the school.
• Verbal instruction from teachers that is concise, not too fast, not too slow, and without any irrelevant information.
• Uncluttered power points and slides used for instruction.
• For structured learning, each learner has a seat at a table, close to and facing the teacher, whiteboard and/or screen.
• Reducing irrelevant visual stimuli in the classroom eg. posters, displays, decorations.
• Reducing background noise by using break out spaces or distance between learning groups.

Already the teachers are noticing that:-

• learning time and the quality of learning is maximised
• there is a reduction in wasted learning time
• there is a decrease in problematic behaviours
• there is an increase in the rate of learning progress.