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Dissertation
Impact of a Course Recommender System on Cognitive Load in Older Adults
University of West Florida Libraries
Doctor of Education (EDD), University of West Florida
2023
Abstract
Education must be a lifelong pursuit. The expansion of knowledge propagates significant cultural change within the average lifespan, and knowledge currency is brief. Extended education may slow the cognitive decline of healthy aging and dementia. However, there are barriers to lifelong learning for adults over 65 years old. The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental study was to examine the impact of a course recommender system, introduced as an alternative to the course catalog, on perceived cognitive load in lifelong learners over 65 years old in a university community-based lifelong learning program in the Southeastern United States. The study involved a stratified sample of 56 participants randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. Both groups used the treatment software with a different user experience (UX). The experimental UX was a course recommender system. The control UX was an electronic course catalog. Sweller's (1988) cognitive load theory posits that working memory has a finite capacity, and extraneous cognitive load consumes limited resources. Descriptive statistics suggest that a study repeat should further substantiate the primary hypothesis, as perceived mental effort was lower for the experimental group. The single usability metric (SUM; Sauro & Kindlund, 2005) indicated that the system was usable, and the i-bar statistic (Hoffman et al., 2010) indicated that the system was learnable. Social contact was again shown to be a key factor in seniors’ educational choices (Dattilo et al., 2012). Future research should span two semesters, incorporating a prediction algorithm into the system for testing during the second semester.
Details
- Title
- Impact of a Course Recommender System on Cognitive Load in Older Adults
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Contributors
- Thomas R Reichherzer (Committee Chair)Thomas R Reichherzer (Committee Member)John W Coffey (Committee Member)Carla J Thompson (Committee Member)Rodney P Guttmann (Committee Member)
- Publisher
- University of West Florida Libraries
- Format
- pdf
- Number of pages
- 337
- Copyright
- Unpublished work © Steven Michael Satterfield
- Identifiers
- 99380178696906600
- Academic Unit
- School of Education
- Language
- English
- Awarding Institution
- University of West Florida; Doctor of Education (EDD)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Education (EDD), University of West Florida