This multiple case study investigates instructional designers’ perceptions of online course quality, their use of cognitive load strategies when designing online courses, and whether utilization of these strategies contribute to online course quality. The participants of this study were instructional designers (n = 5) who worked in various campus programs at a large Midwestern university. Data sources included pre‐interview survey, semi‐structured interview and sample course design documents. Employing a pattern matching technique, the results showed that instructional designers (a) define online course quality based on established standards and rubrics; (b) apply cognitive load strategies intuitively while designing online courses; and (c) consider CLT design strategies as an element contributing to course quality. The results also showed instructional designers’ use of cognitive load strategies mainly focused on reducing extraneous cognitive load. Implications for practice and research as well as directions for future research are discussed.

中文翻译：

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认知负荷和在线课程质量：高等教育背景下教学设计师的见解

这项多案例研究调查了教学设计师对在线课程质量的看法，他们在设计在线课程时对认知负荷策略的使用以及这些策略的利用是否有助于在线课程质量。这项研究的参与者是教学设计师（n = 5）曾在中西部一所大型大学的各种校园课程中工作。数据来源包括面试前调查，半结构化面试和样本课程设计文件。结果表明，通过使用模式匹配技术，教学设计者（a）根据既定的标准和规则定义了在线课程的质量；（b）在设计在线课程时直观地运用认知负荷策略；（c）将CLT设计策略视为提高课程质量的要素。结果还表明，教学设计人员对认知负荷策略的使用主要集中在减少无关的认知负荷上。讨论了对实践和研究的意义以及未来研究的方向。