Improving the quality of online discussion: the effects of strategies designed based on cognitive load theory principles

This article focuses on heavy cognitive load as the reason for the lack of quality associated with conventional online discussion. Using the principles of cognitive load theory, four online discussion strategies were designed specifically aiming at reducing the discussants’ cognitive load and thus enhancing the quality of their online discussion. The results indicate that, compared to a conventional discussion strategy, the discussion quality was significantly enhanced for participants using example-posting strategy and limited-number-of-posting strategy. Cognitive load was significantly reduced for participants using filtered-posting and combination strategies. Instructional efficiency of all proposed strategies was found to be significantly better than conventional discussion strategy. The results are discussed and implications of the findings on instructional design application and future research are also presented.