Why is "color coding" useful when working with students with disabilities?

Question

Color coding, specifically tutor outlining self-drawn boxes on a piece of paper, helps both the teacher and the student organize information according to the beginning, middle and end of an assignment.

Answer 1

Color coding is important for both teacher/tutor's instructions as well as organizing student responses. By creating a box with a yellow outline (wait!), the teacher is able to effectively list what is needed to start an assignment, such as gathering items for assembly, the first paragraph of a paper, or predictions for reading.The next box could be colored green (go!) which would contain what happens next, such the assembly of an item, the body of the paper, or facts in the reading assignment. There can be several red boxes as needed. The last box could be colored red (stop!) which could mean examining a finished product, the concluding paragraph of a paper, or activities related to the conclusion of a reading passage. Variations of this educational/tutoring tool are never-ending and a lot of fun to boot!

Answer 2

Color coding creates a visual shorthand for students, which reduces the amount of information they need to process and thus reducing their cognitive load. With more working memory freed up the student can dedicate more mental resources to their actual work.

Just like writing a grocery list reduces one's cognitive load instead of having part of our working memory juggling the list "a loaf of bread, a quart of milk, and a stick of butter," in the back of our mind and distracting us.

Color coding simplifies things even more by removing the need to process language and reading. Colors are instantly recognizable, don't need to be decoded like written lables, and can be associated directly with any type of information or even a series of actions. Seeing the color allows instant access to the information it represents.