Cognitive load theory and the design of ITT curricula

Douglas Fairfield and Jenny Griffiths, Teach First, UK I have a very clear memory of a physics lesson that I taught to a GCSE class in the first few weeks of my initial teacher training. It did not go according to plan. I had studied biomedical sciences at university, and the last time I had studied physics was in my GCSE year at school. But there I was, trying to explain why you could drop a cannon ball and a tennis ball from the same height at the same time and they would hit the ground at the same time, despite the cannonball being significantly heavier. I didn’t really know the answer myself to be honest. I had learned the reason the night before and it had made sense at the time, but now at the all-important moment my memory was failing me. Part-way through my fumbling explanation, a student spoke up. ‘But Sir, if falling objects accelerate at the same rate then why does a feather fall so slowly?’ It was a very good question and I didn’t have a