Work in progress - quantifying intrinsic Cognitive Load in DC circuit problems

Over the past two decades, cognitive and educational psychologists have studied the means by which students acquire new knowledge and skills. As part of this work, cognitive load theory (CLT) has been developed to provide guidance in optimizing instruction which prepares students to excel at problem solving. The focus of this work-in-progress work is to quantify the difficulty of DC electric circuit problems. The linear regression model created uses feedback from circuit instructors at U.S. universities, colleges, and community colleges. The initial model along with preliminary data will be presented.