Castro-Alonso, J. C., Ayres, P., & Paas, F. (2015). Animations showing Lego manipulative tasks: Three potential moderators of effectiveness. Computers & Education, 85, 1-13.


Johns Hopkins University

1. Mostly used to measure overall cognitive load. 
2. DeLeeuw et al. 2008 suggest that effort rating is correlated with extraneous load and intrinsic load. 
3. Paas 1992 utilizes a 9-grade symmetrical category scale from very, very low mental effort (1) to very, very high mental effort (9).
4. Castro-Alonso et al.  slightly modified scale from Paas 1992 to be "How much mental effort did you invest in completing the task?"; range = 1 (extremely small amount) to 9 (extremely large amount). 

Effort Rating

DeLeeuw, K. E., & Mayer, R. E. (2008). A comparison of three measures of cognitive load: Evidence for separable measures of intrinsic, extraneous, and germane load. Journal of educational psychology, 100(1), 223.


A comparison of three measures of cognitive load: Evidence for separable measures of intrinsic, extraneous, and germane load.

Paas, F. G. (1992). Training strategies for attaining transfer of problem-solving skill in statistics: a cognitive-load approach. Journal of educational psychology, 84(4), 429.


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