The main focus of this study is to explore the issue of cognitive load management in documentary videos by examining its effect on students’ working memory and retrieval. The study explored the multimedia mental effort, multimedia mental load and retrieval strength of learners by making a comparison between groups that use integrated segmented documentary videos (experimental group) and an entire documentary video (control group).

Multistage sampling with stratification was used by stratifying the schools in the Northeastern Educational District according to size. Schools were then selected after the stratification. A true experimental design was used for this study. Furthermore, the study also utilised pre and post assessment instruments, along with a questionnaire and Emotiv Pro technology for data collection. These data were statistically analysed using Simple Linear Regression and one-way ANOVA.

These results revealed that participants who used the integrated segmented documentary videos (M = 99.38, SD = 2.50) performed significantly better on the post-assessment than participants who watched the entire documentary video (M = 79.18, SD = 12.84), (p < .001, η2 p = .560), however; there was no statistically significant difference in the amount of multimedia mental effort used to retrieve the information from long-term memory (p = .431, η2 p = .021). Nevertheless, the participants who watched the entire documentary video (M = 4.44, SD = 2.56) experienced a greater amount of multimedia mental load (extraneous processing) than those who used the integrated segmented documentary videos (M = 1.88, SD = 1.20), (p < .001, η2 p = .305).

These results have implications for creating educational documentary videos for the teaching and learning process. The results suggest that students will perform significantly better on summative assessment when integrated segmented documentary videos are used in the classroom environment.

Mr. Joseph Valley is currently pursuing his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Education with research focus in Educational Neuroscience at The University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT). He holds a Master of Education in Educational Technology from UTT and also possesses a BTEC Higher National Diploma in Media and Communication from Edexcel. He is also well qualified in the field of Video Production, Sound Engineering, Technical Theatre, Technology Education and Mechanical Engineering.

Mr. Valley has been employed with the Ministry of Education for approximately twenty-seven (27) years. He has collaborated on Curriculum Development and was a member of the Curriculum Writing Team for Technology Education initiated by the Ministry of Education. He is currently the Acting Vice-Principal at Valencia Secondary School. He has also performed the role of Acting Principal. Additionally, he has lectured at many institutions in Trinidad and Tobago in the field of Video Production, Sound Engineering, Television and Video Production, Documentary Production, Technology Education, Master Course – Script to Screen, and Creating Educational Videos. Mr. Valley is also a Part-Time Instructor at UTT.

He is also the Founder and Managing Director of J’Angelo Productions Company Limited. He is the Director and Executive Producer of a collection of documentaries, music videos and soundtracks. His career in video production and sound engineering spans over twenty (20) years during which time he contributed to several production teams.

Mr. Valley is currently working on several projects where he is seeking to develop a model for the human cognitive architecture theory for multimedia learning, cognitive load management framework for multimedia learning, framework for developing educational documentary videos and brain memory function framework for multimedia learning.