Editing Learner Control Principle (section)

=='''Challenges'''==
While the learner control principle may be appealing in certain contexts, Scheiter notes that there is little empirical evidence to support the principle<ref name="SCHEITER" />.  Further, giving the learner a level of control in a nonlinear environment runs the risk of burdening cognitive load and reducing metacognitive activity<ref name="SCHEITER" />. As with other principles that can foster generative learning, the learner control principle is more likely to be effective for learners with high prior knowledge and with additional instructional support to help them gain familiarity with a learning environment and to support self-regulation<ref name="SCHEITER" /><ref name="KOSTONS" />.

The major benefit of utilizing the learner control principle is that learners can reduce extraneous cognitive load by skipping sections that contain content they already know. However, this requires that the student’s belief of their own understanding is accurate, and not every student is able to properly assess this<ref name="KOSTONS" />.  Learners can harness self-regulation ability through learner control methods, but that is not a guarantee and requires the student to set their own goals<ref name="KOSTONS"/>