This study investigates the efficacy of a partial decomposition approach in concept map recomposition tasks to reduce cognitive load while maintaining the benefits of traditional recomposition approaches. Prior research has demonstrated that concept map recomposition, involving the rearrangement of unconnected concepts and links, can enhance reading comprehension. However, this task often imposes a significant burden on learners’ working memory. To address this challenge, this study proposes a partial recomposition approach where learners are tasked with recomposing only a portion of the concept map, thereby reducing the problem space. The proposed approach aims at lowering the cognitive load while maintaining the benefits of traditional recomposition task, that is, learning effect and motivation. To investigate the differences in cognitive load, learning effect, and motivation between the full decomposition (the traditional approach) and partial decomposition (the proposed approach), we have conducted an experiment (N=78) where the participants were divided into two groups of “full decomposition” and “partial decomposition”. The full decomposition group was assigned the task of recomposing a concept map from a set of unconnected concept nodes and links, while the partial decomposition group worked with partially connected nodes and links. The experimental results show a significant reduction in the embedded cognitive load of concept map recomposition across different dimensions while learning effect and motivation remained similar between the conditions. On the basis of these findings, educators are recommended to incorporate partially disconnected concept maps in recomposition tasks to optimize time management and sustain learner motivation. By implementing this approach, instructors can conserve cognitive resources and allocate saved energy and time to other activities that enhance the overall learning process.

This study investigated the influence of reading time while building a closed concept map on reading comprehension and retention. It also investigated the effect of having access to the text during closed concept map creation on reading comprehension and retention. Participants from Amazon Mechanical Turk (N =101) read a text, took an after-text test, and took part in one of three conditions, “Map & Text”, “Map only”, and “Double Text”, took an after-activity test, followed by a two-week retention period and then one final delayed test. Analysis revealed that higher reading times were associated with better reading comprehension and better retention. Furthermore, when comparing “Map & Text” to the “Map only” condition, short-term reading comprehension was improved, but long-term retention was not improved. This suggests that having access to the text while building closed concept maps can improve reading comprehension, but long term learning can only be improved if students invest time accessing both the map and the text.