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References: Cognitive Load and Knowledge Space Theory

  1. Cognitive Load - Wikipedia - Explains Sweller's distinction between intrinsic, extraneous, and germane load, the exact three-part framework this chapter uses to justify minimizing decoration and maximizing schema-building activity.

  2. Working Memory - Wikipedia - Covers capacity limits including Miller's "magical number seven," giving theoretical depth to this chapter's Working Memory Constraint and its four-to-seven-item practical limit.

  3. Knowledge Space - Wikipedia - Introduces the combinatorial model of knowledge states and learning paths developed by Doignon and Falmagne, matching this chapter's closing formalization of Knowledge Space Theory.

  4. Cognitive Load Theory - John Sweller, Paul Ayres, and Slava Kalyuga - Springer (Explorations in the Learning Sciences, Instructional Systems and Performance Technologies series) - The authoritative text by the theory's originator and collaborators, covering intrinsic/extraneous/germane load and the instructional techniques this chapter summarizes.

  5. Knowledge Spaces: Theory and Applications - Jean-Paul Doignon and Jean-Claude Falmagne - Springer - The foundational monograph on knowledge space theory by the two researchers this chapter names directly, formalizing knowledge states and learning paths through a domain.

  6. Directed Graphs (Algorithms, 4th Edition companion site) - Princeton University (Sedgewick & Wayne) - Provides working implementations of topological sort and cycle detection on directed graphs, the algorithmic machinery behind this chapter's Kahn's-algorithm walkthrough.

  7. Where to Start: Backward Design - MIT Teaching + Learning Lab - Walks through the three stages of backward design (desired results, evidence, learning activities), the same outcomes-first planning method this chapter traces back to Chapter 6's learning objectives.

  8. Constructive Alignment - Queen Mary Academy, Queen Mary University of London - Explains Biggs's principle of aligning outcomes, teaching activities, and assessment, illustrating the misalignment failure mode this chapter's aligned-versus-misaligned table demonstrates.

  9. Spiral Curriculum - University of Detroit Mercy - Describes Bruner's approach of revisiting core topics with increasing depth across a program, the same staircase metaphor this chapter uses to describe this book's own repeated returns to the Directed Acyclic Graph.

  10. Cognitive Load Theory: A Teacher's Guide - Structural Learning - Offers practical strategies for managing working memory limits, including chunking and prior-knowledge activation, the two load-management techniques this chapter defines in detail.