Development and Validation of a Cognitive Load Measure for General Educational Settings

We develop and validate a self-report measure of intrinsic and extrinsic cognitive load suitable for measuring the constructs in a variety of learning contexts. Data were collected from three independent samples of college students in the U.S. (N total = 513; M age = 21.13 years). Kane’s (2013) framework was used to validate the measure. Three types of validity evidence were presented: scoring, generalization, extrapolation. After establishing evidence of validity, especially measurement invariance, we then compared group mean differences based on students’ demographic characteristics. These findings support the psychometric integrity of this measure of cognitive load, which may be used to investigate cognitive load in various learning contexts, particularly examining factors that may perpetuate or mitigate differences in cognitive load between students. Such a measure could be useful in educational and clinical settings as a mechanism for early identification of potential learning challenges.