For students and professors alike, the end of a semester can feel heavy. Students are struggling to retain all they have learned throughout the semester; professors are deciding if they can squeeze in one last crucial lesson before finals. For educators, it is the age-old balance of quality over quantity, but finding that balance can be difficult.

November’s resource of the month offers guidance in achieving this end-of-semester balance. Author Dr. Todd Zakrajsek explains the concept of cognitive load and its impact on student learning. In this brief article, Zakrajsek describes when students are able to process new information and when they are not, and how using schemas support the student learning process. The article, Cognitive Load: A Fundamental Key to Student Learning, is found in The Scholarly Teacher.

Dr. Todd Zakrajsek is an associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine and the associate director of the Faculty Development Fellowship Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel. Hill. The Scholarly Teacher, hosted by the International Teaching Learning Cooperative, presents a balanced approach of scholarly evidence and practical application for enhanced student learning by systematic improvement of effective teaching.

The purpose of the Resource of the Month is twofold:

1) To encourage the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) by providing examples of high-quality research.

2) To provide faculty with innovative ideas that promote effective pedagogy.