Rationale of study

Education plays an important role in the complicated world of today. In conditions in

which countries worldwide think their development relies on the development of education

systems, traditional teaching methods cannot provide them with the development and

transformation they want (Mohaffeghian et al., 2012). The increase in the quality and academic

achievement is one of the main goals of education and teachers can play an important and

effective role in the academic achievement of students by selecting the proper methods (Hoseini,

2007 ,as cited by Mohammadjani, F., & Tonkaboni, F. (2015).But when Science subject

Assessment results of of 5th and 8th grade students were analysed from PEC reports and

Pakistan Alliance for Maths and Science ,2017.It showed disappointing results mean score for

Science subject.

Year Report 5th grade 8th grade Mean score

Mean score for 5th and
Mean score 8th
2019 PEC 52.6 53.1 61.6 and 63
2018 PEC 53.7 52.33 74 and 65
2017 PEC 49.5 43 56 and60
2016 PEC 43 41 50 and 55
2015 PEC 39 38 53 and 58
2015 SAT 24 23

(www.pec.edu.pk).

The National Achievement Test (NAT) conducted by NEAS in 2014 assessed learning

achievement for science among students enrolled in Class V. In order to identify areas affecting

overall performance, it seeks to explore students’ performance on different sections of the

content of the science curriculum. Out of four provinces and four regions, not a single one

showed an average science score of over 50 percent. The NEAS report also includes perceptions

of teachers concerning the difficulty of teaching science curriculum. Teachers reported that they

are traditionally teaching with the help of text book and students face difficulty in learning

science concepts (Pakistan Alliance for Maths and Science ,2017). According to Khan

(2017),Text books increases cognitive load of learners, An over-reliance on the textbook as a

source of knowledge to be transmitted means that the intrinsic load of learning science will be

high in Pakistan and other developing countries (Rollnick, 2000 also cited as Pella,W.A, Hafiz

Muhammad Iqbal and Shahida Sohailb ,2010). According to Dr. Mariam Chagatai’s ’interview

on “Education in Pakistan” to Waqt News -Waqt (Nov,2016), educational system in all over the

world including Pakistan is struck in industrial age ,we want our children to spent a specific

duration in a class before promoting to next grade. Technology can be a path for better learning

allowing us to move from text books to videos .Our thinking about technology and learning is

limited to the use of digital black board in the class or providing laptop to every children.The fact

is that these digital devices are not able to create learning by themselves

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL-qU4c2BQk).Although the use of such technologies has

facilitated the teachers, students, educational administrators, and other stakeholders yet their use

has been denied in the conventional classrooms or has not been accepted with the smiling face

(S,Khalid; F Shahid ;A, Hira,2019).

Teaching of General Science with technology embedded instructional media is found

more effective and successful as compared to traditional teaching regarding retention of learning.

Therefore, it is necessary for teachers to assist students with an environment consisting of

various kinds of information. Moreover, the advancements in technology have enabled teachers
to design instructional media rich for teaching learning. For example, Wang, Chen, Fang and

Chou (2014) described that the increasing use of digital technologies has supplied students with

an information-driven environment to enhance their learning. The critical features of science

texts are the multiple representations, such as text and visual elements, which assist the

representation of science concepts (Hung, 2014). For example, Mason, Tornatora and Pluchino

(2013) asserted that visualizations play a significant role in science learning because they make

complex processes visible. Therefore there is need to investigate the effect of instructional media

on cognitive load of students at elementary level in Subject of General Science. More over The

government of Pakistan has created an online educational platform known as e-learn .Punjab.

This platform aims to empower teachers and students to assist them in teaching learning process.

Educational videos, animations and sounds (auditory text material) related to subjects are

available in this website as supplementary and additional material (www.elearn.punjab.gov.pk).

But teachers are not using it in their classrooms. This provided the baseline for rationale of study.

However, despite the advantages of facilitating learning, some challenges concerning the

use of instructional media has arisen, including issues related to cognitive load (Knörzer,

Brünken, & Park, 2016). The research studies have indicated that the use of technology

improved the teaching-learning process to a great extent. But, the findings of different studies are

presenting a sorry figure regarding the meaningful use of technologies in the teaching-learning

process for classroom instruction in Pakistani schools(S,Khalid, F ; Shahid ,A;Hira,2019).The

key issue is not the introduction of ICT in teaching and learning but the use of ICT in such a way

that cognitive overload is reduced and understanding is enhanced (Khurshid, K., Shah, A.F., &

Reid, N;2016).On one hand the use of technology embedded instructional media is argued to

have the potential to improve teaching learning process without burdening the working memory
(Mayer, 2013; Mayer, R.E. 2014).On the other hand many researchers demonstrated the problem

of increased cognitive load with the use of technology as instructional media in classroom

(Kalyuga, 2011; Sweller, Ayres, and Kalyuga, 2011;Chen et al., 2011).

Some authors, such as Chen and Yan,(2016) have pointed out the possibility that they

serve as a distraction for students. Use of technology as instructional format is referred as a

double-edged sword by X.-Z Zhang, X.-R Zhang& X.-M Yang(2016) that may or may not affect

the cognitive load. The studies mentioned above suggest that more in-depth study is needed to

clarify how technology based learning environment affect learners' cognitive processing during

learning.

In this study, researcher will address this issue from the perspective of cognitive load theory

(CLT), by using elearn.punjab platform to investigate the effect of instructional media on

cognitive load of students. This study might be helpful for students and teachers in measuring

cognitive load of students with particular reference to general Science because Cognitive load

theory is particularly relevant to teaching novice learners in ‘technical’ domains such as

mathematics, science and technology. A large number of Researches demonstrate the

effectiveness of the instructional approaches recommended by cognitive load theory in subjects

such as maths and science (for example, Bokosmaty, Sweller & Kalyuga 2015; Carlson,

Chandler & Sweller 2003; Owen & Sweller 1985; Sweller & Cooper, 1985; Zhu & Simon 1987).

So this study will investigate the effect of instructional media on cognitive load of students in

general science subject at elementary level.