Cognitive Load Theory – 20 Simple Changes That Make Learning Stick

Cognitive Load Theory explains why students sometimes look confused even when we think we’ve been clear. You know that look. It’s that moment when you’ve explained something clearly, or at least you thought you had, but your students are just sitting there, staring blankly?

Yeah, that one.

It’s not always about effort or behaviour. Sometimes, it’s just cognitive overload. Their brains are full. Nothing else is going in.

Cognitive Load Theory helps explain what’s really going on in those moments. It’s not new, and it’s not complicated, but it is something most of us were never taught. And once you get it, it changes the way you design your lessons, your slides and your instructions.

This guide is here to give you some practical ways to reduce extraneous load and increase the good stuff – germaine load. These are straightforward strategies to cut the clutter and help students actually process what you’re teaching. No fluff. Just things you can try straight away, whatever subject or course you teach.

Why Cognitive Load Matters in Real Classrooms

Students forgetting things you just taught. Struggling through simple tasks. Losing focus halfway through instructions. These aren’t always signs of laziness or poor behaviour. Quite often, they’re signs that we’ve asked too much of their working memory.

Cognitive Load Theory gives us a framework to spot what’s going wrong. It helps us design lessons that actually give students the space to think. That doesn’t mean dumbing things down. It means making it easier for them to focus on the right stuff.

The key isn’t to throw out what you’re already doing. It’s to make a few smart changes that remove the noise, reduce the overload and get better learning as a result.

What Is Cognitive Load Theory?

Cognitive Load Theory was developed by John Sweller in the 1980s. At its core, it explains how students process information in working memory, which is very limited in capacity. Sweller identified three types of cognitive load:

• Intrinsic load is the unavoidable difficulty of the material itself. Some topics are just more complex than others.
• Extraneous load is any mental effort caused by poor design or unnecessary distractions. This is the stuff we can and should reduce.
• Germane load is the useful effort students put into making sense of new ideas and connecting them to what they already know.

Our job as teachers is to reduce extraneous load, manage intrinsic load and support germane load. Doing that gives students a better shot at understanding and remembering what they’re learning.

10 Ways to Reduce Extraneous Load in Lessons

If students are spending more energy trying to access the learning than actually doing it, there’s probably too much extraneous load in the mix.

Here’s how to cut the clutter without lowering the bar.

1. Keep your slides clean

Avoid cramming slides with dense text, decorative fonts or random images. Stick to one clear idea per slide, use high-contrast text and skip the clipart.

Example: In a science lesson on osmosis, use a single labelled diagram instead of a wall of text next to a separate image.
This guide on inclusive PowerPoint design shows you exactly how.

2. Put information together, not apart

Don’t make students flick between the board, their book and a worksheet just to follow a basic explanation. Keep related content in one place.

Example: In a joinery lesson, show the tool image, its name and its use all in the same spot, not scattered across three resources.

3. Repeat key instructions, both aloud and in writing

Say it, then show it. Don’t assume they’ll remember a set of instructions after hearing them once.

Example: In a creative writing task, put the steps on the board and talk them through. It supports students who process language differently and anyone who needs to revisit what you said.

4. Strip back your language

Keep your explanations simple and direct. Use plain language when introducing new ideas. You can always build up complexity later.

Example: In maths, say “add these numbers together” before introducing terms like “sum” or “operation”.
This guide to high expectations shows you how clarity and challenge work together.

5. Remove anything that doesn’t support the learning

Flashing text, sound effects and videos can all pull attention away from the core content. If it’s not adding value, take it out.

Example: In a beauty therapy lesson, skip the spa soundtrack and focus on the visual explanation of the skin’s layers.

6. Break tasks into smaller steps

Don’t drop a full task on students all at once. Scaffold it and guide them through each stage.

Example: In a business lesson on writing a marketing plan, give one section at a time and model each part before they try it independently.
This stretch and challenge guide gives you strategies that work.

7. Don’t overload visuals and speech at the same time

If your slide is full of text and you are talking over it, students won’t know whether to read or listen. Use visuals while you explain.

Example: In a history lesson, show a simple timeline while you talk through events. Save the written detail for later.

8. Use consistent layouts and routines

When your resources and lesson structures are predictable, students use less brainpower figuring out how to access the task.

Example: Colour code your worksheets the same way every time. Titles in blue, tasks in black, extensions in green. It saves questions and builds habits.

9. Build in pause time

Let students process new information before you move on. A short pause can do more for memory than five more slides.

Example: In health and social care, after introducing the different types of abuse in safeguarding, give students a minute to reflect or jot down what they remember.

10. Don’t assume prior knowledge

If the foundations aren’t there, everything on top is going to wobble. Recap if you need to, even briefly.

Example: Before teaching chemical reactions, check students can name common elements.
This adaptive teaching guide helps you plan without watering anything down.

10 Ways to Increase Germane Load in Lessons

Once you’ve cleared the clutter, help students use their brainpower in ways that lead to real learning. That’s what germane load is about.

1. Use retrieval practice

Example: In a biology lesson, ask students to sketch and label a cell from memory before showing them the correct version.

2. Ask students to explain their thinking

Example: In maths, when a student gives a solution, follow up with, “Why did you do that step next?” or “What would happen if you skipped it?”

3. Model your thinking, then get them to do the same

Example: In a construction theory lesson, talk through how you would assess scaffold safety. Then ask students to do the same using a diagram.

4. Connect new ideas to what they already know

Example: In English, link persuasive techniques in a speech to rhetorical questions from previous lessons.

5. Ask elaboration questions

Example: In health and social care, after a case study on care plans, ask, “Why was that the right decision?”

6. Use graphic organisers to show relationships

Example: In a business lesson, give students a blank cash flow chart to complete using case study data.

7. Get students to reflect on what they’ve done

Example: After a group task in travel and tourism, ask, “What was the most important decision your team made, and why?”

8. Remove scaffolds gradually

Example: Start with sentence starters and a model paragraph. Remove one support at a time as confidence builds.

9. Ask students to spot patterns

Example: In plumbing, show three pipe layouts and ask, “What do these all have in common?”

10. Use low-stakes testing regularly

Example: At the start of every ICT lesson, run a short quiz. Let students mark their own and track their progress.

This adaptive teaching guide gives you more ways to build strong habits and deep thinking.

Get the Thinking Right, and Learning Follows

You don’t need flashy slides or complex strategies to make your teaching more effective. You just need to manage what’s going on in your students’ heads.

Cognitive Load Theory gives you the lens to see what helps and what gets in the way. It isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing the right things at the right time.

Cut the clutter. Say less with more clarity. Make space for students to think.

When you do that, everything else starts to fall into place. Understanding improves. Memory strengthens. Confidence grows.

If you haven’t already, grab the free guide linked below. It’s full of practical examples like the ones in this article that you can use in your next lesson.

And if you found this helpful, share it with another teacher who might be looking at a room full of blank faces and wondering what went wrong.

It probably isn’t the student.

It could just be the load.