Learning processes, particularly in the contemporary information age, are often accompanied by experiences of cognitive overload and/or emotional overwhelm. Students are required, among other things, to cope with large volumes of information, to understand complex ideas, and to construct connections between concepts. Organizing and representing knowledge in a visual and tangible manner, addressing these challenges can be through a table, a concept map, or a flowchart, for example. Research shows that tangible organization of knowledge reduces the mental load on working memory. It enables learners to track their own thinking processes, to engage more deeply with content, and to identify and construct connections among components of knowledge. In this way, visual organization of knowledge may promote deep understanding, processing, and collaborative discourse. For example, representing the process of photosynthesis by creating a flowchart, or organizing the economic, political, and military factors of World War I through the construction of a concept map, are examples of different types of visual organization that may promote understanding.
Different learners employ diverse ways of thinking, which may vary depending on context. Therefore, supporting the creation of different types of representations may encourage learners to engage with content in authentic and creative ways. Examples of this can be seen, for instance, in the project “Sleep – A Third of Life,” in which students choose to represent data about their own sleep patterns and those of other adolescents in different ways of their choosing, thereby presenting conclusions derived from the data in forms that best express them.
The organization and representation of knowledge can be carried out using generic tools (such as spreadsheets or concept-mapping editors) or dedicated tools (such as environments that enable the creation of an idea repository for the construction of evidence-based arguments). For example, the pedagogical principles on this website are organized through a map created using a tool called kumu.io, which enables the construction of independent knowledge representations.
Deepening and Expansion ▼
Reducing cognitive load through information organization
Cognitive Load Theory, as articulated by Sweller and colleagues (2011), emphasizes that overwhelming learners with unorganized information may hinder learning. They note that visual presentation of information, in various forms such as diagrams, tables, or concept maps, helps reduce this load by distributing information across different cognitive channels (visual and verbal). This enables learners to understand the central relationships among content components and to cope with conceptual complexity. Tools that allow learners to create such representations themselves support deeper learning, particularly when dealing with scientific or abstract topics.
Externalizing thinking and revealing relationships through visual tools
According to Ritchhart and colleagues (2011), the “Visible Thinking” approach, developed by Project Zero at Harvard University, aims to foster students’ ways of thinking while deepening their understanding of the content on which they focus. The approach offers a variety of practices and tools for externalizing thinking and making it accessible. The use of such tools (for example, concept maps or flowcharts) allows learners to track their own reasoning over time, sometimes collaboratively. As a result, their knowledge becomes more structured, and the relationships among different concepts and ideas become clearer. These processes reduce learners’ cognitive load and enable deeper engagement with complex content.
Recognizing diverse thinking styles and the role of representation as part of learning
Turkle and Papert (1990) defined the term “Epistemological Pluralism” as the wide range of ways in which learners construct and express knowledge across different contexts. They emphasize the importance of supporting diverse ways of thinking and caution against expecting learners to express knowledge in predetermined ways. According to the authors, providing learners with opportunities to choose how they wish to represent their knowledge, while exposing them to a variety of representational forms (such as drawings, diagrams, text, or narratives), may reduce emotional and cognitive barriers and strengthen learners’ sense of agency and ownership over learning.
Additional Resources:
Visible Thinking website of Project Zero
Representing information or knowledge in diverse ways – Teaching Staff Portal, Pedagogical Space
The knowledge-organization tool kumu.io and its gallery of examples
References ▼
Ritchhart, R., Church, M., & Morrison, K. (2011). Making thinking visible: How to promote engagement, understanding, and independence for all learners. Jossey-Bass.
Sweller, J., Ayres, P., & Kalyuga, S. (2011). Cognitive load theory. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8126-4
Turkle, S., & Papert, S. (1990). Epistemological pluralism: Styles and voices within the computer culture. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 16(1), 128–157. https://doi.org/10.1086/494648