WORKING-MEMORY, MENTAL-CAPACITY AND SCIENCE-EDUCATION - TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORKING-MEMORY OVERLOAD HYPOTHESIS

Researchers in science education recognise the importance of informati on processing capacity as a constraint on the abilities and achievemen ts of science students. This constraint has been referred to as 'menta l capacity' or 'working memory capacity' with the latter leading to th e so-called 'working memory overload hypothesis'. However, rarely have researchers in this area been explicit as to the nature or theory of the mental capacity or the working memory system to which these terms refer. In this paper we outline two possible models which have proved useful in studies a information processing in other domains. The first model (of mental capacity developed by Pascual-Leone and his colleagu es has been applied in science education with varying degrees of succe ss, The second model (of working memory) developed by Baddeley and his colleagues has been very successful in accounting for a wide range of cognitive activity, although it has not been applied to science educa tion hitherto. We conclude that consideration of elements of the worki ng memory framework may well prove fruitful in science education.