Summary 5.9 - Sources of split attention
Split attention occurs whenever a learner needs to attend to more than one source of information, or more than one activity. A common source of split attention is the need for a learner to perform a search. Searching a graphic to locate a component, searching a document to find a reference and searching software pull-down menus to find a function referred to in a manual are all examples of split attention.
Redesigning instructional materials to eliminate search and other sources of split attention facilitates learning.