Did you know that the brains of the living are constantly changing? Neuroplasticity describes the brain’s ability to rewire itself through experience (Ackerman, 2018). When a topic is unfamiliar, a novice learner’s brain is still forming schemas (Sweller, 1988) and lacks strong neural connections (Cunnington, 2019). Without consolidated networks to support automaticity, the brain must rely heavily on working memory, resulting in higher cognitive load as neurons coordinate new and inefficient firing patterns (Cowan, 2014). Discerning zombies will detect notes of curiosity, a hint of confusion, and the delightful aftertaste of epiphany. Because novice brains rely so heavily on working memory, they learn best with minimal cognitive load. Explicit instruction (Australian Education Research Organisation [AERO], 2022) and worked examples (Blanksby, 2023) are great strategies for a palatable dish because they provide the structure novices lack, modelling the expert thinking that their undeveloped schemas cannot yet supply.
Expert brains tell a different story. While novices concentrate on what is immediately in front of them, experts recognise underlying structures and patterns, retrieving well-organised schemas automatically (Sweller, 1988). This frees cognitive resources for interpretation, critical thinking, and problem-solving. Experts can juggle more complexity not because they are innately smarter, but because their long-term memory contains domain specific cognitive structures (Sweller, 1988). As a result, tasks that would overload a novice’s working memory simply don’t impose the same cognitive burden on an expert. This is why inquiry, open-ended problems, and creative applications are genuinely productive for experts, but can be a struggle for novices. These higher-order tasks tap into rich schemas rather than constructing them from scratch.
In the classroom, this means a deliberate progressive load reduction, from modelling, to guided learning, to independence (Martin & Evans, 2018), a practice known amongst the living as the gradual release of responsibility. This approach, commonly embedded in individual lesson plans, is equally powerful across unit planning, supporting the learner’s gradual shift from novice to expert.
Worked examples support this progression by giving novices a safe on-ramp into new content. Because beginners lack established schemas, attempting full problems too early overloads working memory. A worked example cuts through that complexity, presenting the thinking, strategy, and decision-making of an expert in a clear, digestible format (Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation [CESE], 2018). Students can use the example to help form their own cognitive structures. Over time, worked steps are gradually removed, a process known as fading, which allows learners to take on increasing levels of responsibility. When implemented alongside optional “challenge” steps that invite students to push further, students with different readiness levels can access the same task at different levels of scaffold, ensuring equity without sacrificing extension.
Because the brain reshapes itself in response to experience, the classroom environment is also an important factor in shaping cognition. When students feel safe, supported, and valued, the amygdala stays calm, allowing information to flow to the prefrontal cortex where reasoning and memory take place. Excessive stress, on the other hand, locks the brain into survival mode, blocking new learning (Willis, 2014). Predictable structures, humour, and genuine connection build a more complex flavour profile, and create the emotional readiness the brain needs to take in new learning.
