Cognitive load theory is the theory relating to the limits of working memory and the points at which learning is interrupted because the task is applying too large a load on the cognitive activity. There has been heaps of research around this theory and today I want to focus on the relationship between cognitive load and collaborative tasks.
Hattie and Yates in their book “Visible Learning and the Science of How We Learn.” explain that the working memory can generally only handle 4 items for thinking unless the topic is well known and then this can be expanded up to 8 items. They also note that one of the key issues for cognitive load is not just the number of items, but more the number of relationships between them.
Among the teaching approaches that can be used to decrease cognitive load, Hattie and Yates discuss the need for prior knowledge for the new items to connect with. This allows for more items to be used in working memory. Having memory jogs and keywords with images around also helps to decrease the load on the working memory of students. But, this article is more concerned with the information about group work and specifically collaborative tasks helping to decrease the cognitive load on students.