Comparing the Extraneous Cognitive Load of Designing an Instruction with Merrill's Model between Instruction by Multimedia and Traditional Methods

This study intends to examine the extraneous cognitive load within instruction that it had been designed building upon Merrill's model and conducted by multimedia and traditional methods in a biology course. This study was a practical research and also the quasi-experimental research methodology had been utilized. The research statistical population was the whole of the senior high school students in Malayer city. Research sampling was selected via convenience sampling and then they categorized into control and experimental groups. The experimental group instructed through independent variable (instructional multimedia according to Merrill's instructional design model) and the designed biology content based on Merrill's instructional design model instructed to the control group. Likewise, Brunken, Plass and Leutner questionnaire of extraneous cognitive load assessment with the reliability of 0.83 was applied to gathering data. The result showed that extraneous cognitive load in the instruction of biology course, which was designed according to Merrill's model, in traditional method is lower than multimedia method.