The Cognitive Load Budget¶
Run the Cognitive Load Budget Fullscreen Edit Using the p5.js Editor
About This MicroSim¶
A stacked bar visualization of the cognitive load inequality: Intrinsic + Extraneous + Germane must stay within Working Memory Capacity. Intrinsic load (blue) represents material difficulty. Extraneous load (red) represents presentation-driven load. Germane load (green) represents schema-construction effort.
Use the four sliders to adjust each load type and the learner's capacity. The status indicator shows whether the learner is in a learning state, on the edge, or overloaded. The Scenario dropdown provides preset configurations like "Novice with bad diagram" or "Well-designed chapter" to illustrate common patterns.
Design insights appear at the bottom, suggesting specific instructional moves based on the current load balance.
Learning Objective (Apply): Given a lesson description, decompose its cognitive load and predict whether the learner will overflow.