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208 Kalyuga Copyright 2006, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. novice differences. The most important consequence of the reviewed studies is that the design of effective and cognitively-efficient multimedia environments needs to be tailored to changing levels of user expertise in a domain in order to optimize cognitive resources available for understanding multimedia messages. Empirically-established interactions between levels of user expertise and different formats of multimedia presentations are described. Also, a brief overview of recently- developed technical adaptation solutions based on user modeling in the adaptive hypermedia field is provided. Finally, the chapter discusses a possible adaptive methodology that is based on real-time monitoring of users proficiency in a domain by using rapid cognitive diagnostic methods for capturing authentic domain-specific knowledge structures involved in processing presented information. This diagnostic approach may have the potential for developing more rapid and sensitive knowledge-tracing techniques than traditional tests. It could be used to increase the accuracy of information about levels of knowledge and expertise stored in an individual user model. To illustrate the approach, the rapid diagnostic method has been applied (in a preliminary pilot study) as a means of tailoring instructions to levels of learner expertise in a simple adaptive computer-based tutor in kinematics. Expert-Novice Differences in Processing Multimedia Information Two major components of our cognitive architecture that are directly related to processing multimedia information are working memory and long-term memory. Working memory provides temporary storage and transformation of verbal and pictorial information that is currently in the focus of our attention (e.g., constructing and updating mental representations of a current situation or task). If too many elements of information are processed simultaneously in working memory, its capacity may become overloaded (Baddeley, 1986; Miller, 1956). Processing limitations of working memory and associated cognitive load represent a major factor influencing the effectiveness of learning (Sweller, 1999; Sweller, van Merrienboer, & Paas, 1998). Presenting related elements of information (e.g., pictures and related words) in alternative modalities (visual and auditory) may reduce cognitive load by employing two relatively independent sub-systems of working memory responsible for dealing with visual and auditory information. In order to overcome limitations of working memory and reduce associated cognitive load, organized domain-specific knowledge structures in long-term memory allow treating multiple elements of information as a single higher-level element (Chi, Glaser, & Rees, 1982). Such structures also allow experts to rapidly classify problem situations and retrieve appropriate schematic procedures for handling these situations instead of employing cognitively demanding and inefficient search-based strategies that novices usually use. For example, studies of problem solving in physics by individuals with different levels of expertise demonstrated that experts approached the problems in terms of the basic principles of physics, while novices heavily depended on surface features mentioned in each specific task (Chi, Feltovich, & Glaser, 1981). In addition, experts are also able to bypass working memory limitations by having their knowledge structures

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