ABSTRACT
In 1986 Donald A. Norman coined the term cognitive engineering, which denotes a cognitive science approach within the engineering sciences. The research outlined in this paper follows this tradition and exemplifies a cognitive science methodology for the investigation of knowledge acquisition processes in a semantically rich task domain. To tackle this, an experimental design is combined with the construction of a simulation model that is based on a single case study. It is suggested to adopt a complementary view of both approaches towards the understanding of human learning processes. Whereas experimental results may demonstrate certain effects of different learning modes, a cognitive modelling approach offers a framework for their explanation.
