Conference Program

This study investigates the role of visual organization in digital instructional materials within lower secondary education, focusing on its impact on comprehension, immediate and delayed retention, and perceived cognitive load. The research is grounded in Cognitive Load Theory (Sweller, 2010), Multimedia Learning theory (Mayer, 2002), and studies on graphicacy, assuming that spatial and hierarchical arrangement of visual elements may facilitate or hinder the integration of verbal and spatial representations.

The study examines whether specific design choices—namely text–image proximity and explicit visual hierarchy—affect cognitive processes involved in learning an introductory mathematical concept: the Cartesian plane.

A between-group experimental design was implemented with a sample of 52 students (age range: 11–12 years) from three first-year lower secondary classes. Each class attended a lesson on Cartesian axes delivered through one of three graphic templates derived from the combination of two independent variables: (a) text–image proximity and (b) presence of explicit visual hierarchy. Instructional content, teaching time, and delivery mode were held constant across conditions.

Dependent variables included prior knowledge (baseline test), immediate retention, comprehension, perceived cognitive load, and delayed retention one week later. Cognitive load was measured using a questionnaire based on the validated scale developed by Klepsch, Schmitz, and Seufert (2017), allowing differentiation among intrinsic, extraneous, and germane load components.

Results show statistically significant differences between experimental conditions only in the disaggregated analysis of cognitive load components. In particular, extraneous cognitive load varied systematically across templates, indicating that graphic design primarily influences cognitive processing rather than final performance outcomes. No statistically significant differences emerged in comprehension or retention tests.

The findings show that visual organization significantly affects extraneous cognitive load, even when measurable differences in learning outcomes do not emerge. While recent systematic reviews have questioned whether the spatial contiguity effect can be explained by reductions in extraneous load (Schroeder & Cenkci, 2020), the present study suggests a more articulated relationship between instructional design, cognitive load, and performance. Variations in extraneous load did not translate into immediate learning gains, yet they reconfigured the cognitive conditions under which spatial-quantitative reasoning unfolded.

This dissociation indicates that additional variables intervene in the construction of knowledge and, in line with representational models emphasizing the coordination of depictive and descriptive processing (Schnotz & Kürschner, 2007), points to a relationship between cognitive load and learning outcomes that is neither linear nor unidirectional. Current models linking instructional design, cognitive load, and performance may therefore oversimplify the dynamics of visuo-quantitative learning.

By showing that the arrangement of text and visual elements influences cognitive processing in the introduction of the Cartesian plane, the study contributes to the discussion on graphicacy as a foundational component of scientific literacy. In this perspective, the design of graphical materials becomes an epistemic and pedagogical issue: reducing unnecessary cognitive burden may support more equitable participation in visuo-quantitative practices central to mathematics and science education. The study therefore positions visual design as a potential mediator of inclusive access to scientific representations, contributing to the broader framework of democratic science education.