Cognitive Upgrade: Redesigning for How People Learn
Amanda Emsais, Week 7, Step 6
go!
Instructional Artifact
My confusing instructional artifact was the video 'Complex Research Terminology Simplified: Paradigms, Ontology, Epistemology and Methodology ' by NurseKillam from the first module of the Introduction to Social Science Research course.
Watch Here!
Diagnosis
It was a fast-paced video that went through paradigms and its ontological, epistemological, and methodological beliefs, and the overall relation to each other in addition to intellectual movements (modernism and post-modernism). For me, since I did not have a clear or prior understanding at the time I watched the video, it felt as if terms were being thrown at me, and I had a difficult time placing them appropriately. It appeared as though there was a mind-map or similar chart in the video, quickly switching locations within seconds without being able to see the full image. This presented, to me, cognitive overload and was impeding my understanding of these ideas due to the over presentationof terms in a short time span (7-8 minutes with quick narration).
To explain: being that I felt overwhelmed while watching, and failed to encode any information.
Do the different shapes represent something?
Where are the footsteps leading to? To what other idea?
Image Examples
These footsteps aren't found in any other part of the video. How are all these concepts related?
Where is this Realism circle in? Does it being in a box mean that it is within another idea?
Redesign
Slow down the speed of the content and dialogue.
Present the whole mind map, or a hierarchial view initially.
Explain the connection between terms. Describe relation or opposing views.
Introduce ideas from top-down approach. Intellectual movements down to paradigms, etc.
Explanation
I expect this to be a more approachable design for students, especially those who may not be the most familiar with these terms and concepts. It will allow for confidence for the capability of this learning, which is cruicial to support in learners.
In my redesign, I slowed down the pace of narration and switching of screens, presented an overall hierarchial mind map at the beginning of the video, presented the terms from a top-down perspective (going from movements to paradigms to beliefs), and clearly explained the connections between terms that I am introducing. This would most impactfully influence the encoding of these stimuli information to learners by allowing for more spacing/timing between terms introduced, supporting attention by reducing cognitive overload, and supporting working memory by not confronting learners with too much information.
*For those who are familiar with these terms prior, this redesign might not be necessary for all learners.
Thank you!
Killam, N. (2013, September 24). Complex research terminology simplified: Paradigms, ontology, epistemology and methodology [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xvpxBVCo0c&t=2s
Cognitive Upgrade: Redesigning for How People Learn
amanda emsais
Created on October 10, 2025
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Transcript
Cognitive Upgrade: Redesigning for How People Learn
Amanda Emsais, Week 7, Step 6
go!
Instructional Artifact
My confusing instructional artifact was the video 'Complex Research Terminology Simplified: Paradigms, Ontology, Epistemology and Methodology ' by NurseKillam from the first module of the Introduction to Social Science Research course.
Watch Here!
Diagnosis
It was a fast-paced video that went through paradigms and its ontological, epistemological, and methodological beliefs, and the overall relation to each other in addition to intellectual movements (modernism and post-modernism). For me, since I did not have a clear or prior understanding at the time I watched the video, it felt as if terms were being thrown at me, and I had a difficult time placing them appropriately. It appeared as though there was a mind-map or similar chart in the video, quickly switching locations within seconds without being able to see the full image. This presented, to me, cognitive overload and was impeding my understanding of these ideas due to the over presentationof terms in a short time span (7-8 minutes with quick narration).
To explain: being that I felt overwhelmed while watching, and failed to encode any information.
Do the different shapes represent something?
Where are the footsteps leading to? To what other idea?
Image Examples
These footsteps aren't found in any other part of the video. How are all these concepts related?
Where is this Realism circle in? Does it being in a box mean that it is within another idea?
Redesign
Slow down the speed of the content and dialogue.
Present the whole mind map, or a hierarchial view initially.
Explain the connection between terms. Describe relation or opposing views.
Introduce ideas from top-down approach. Intellectual movements down to paradigms, etc.
Explanation
I expect this to be a more approachable design for students, especially those who may not be the most familiar with these terms and concepts. It will allow for confidence for the capability of this learning, which is cruicial to support in learners.
In my redesign, I slowed down the pace of narration and switching of screens, presented an overall hierarchial mind map at the beginning of the video, presented the terms from a top-down perspective (going from movements to paradigms to beliefs), and clearly explained the connections between terms that I am introducing. This would most impactfully influence the encoding of these stimuli information to learners by allowing for more spacing/timing between terms introduced, supporting attention by reducing cognitive overload, and supporting working memory by not confronting learners with too much information.
*For those who are familiar with these terms prior, this redesign might not be necessary for all learners.
Thank you!
Killam, N. (2013, September 24). Complex research terminology simplified: Paradigms, ontology, epistemology and methodology [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xvpxBVCo0c&t=2s