Collaborative group work and the different types of cognitive load

ABSTRACT

From a cognitive load perspective, successful collaborative learning occurs if groups achieve their goals, and if each member processes information in a way that contributes to individual learning. This research looked at group work among postgraduate STEM students in South Korea (N = 55) to see if successful collaborative learning and individual contribution were associated with greater individual course success. Results showed that students who participated in successful group work showed higher levels of germane cognitive load, which contributes to learning, and also earned higher scores on the final research paper for the course. Implications of this study highlight the need for synchronous collaborative writing to be used as a way of sharing ideas and knowledge to produce higher levels of individual understanding and quality writing.

KEYWORDS:

• Cognitive load
• collaborative learning
• contribution
• extraneous load
• germane load
• group work
• intrinsic load

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The present research was supported by the research fund of Dankook University in 2020.

Notes on contributors

Christopher Lange

Christopher Lange is an assistant professor in the Department of British and American Humanities at Dankook University in South Korea. His research is focused on the effects of cognitive load and learner control within e-learning environments. Additionally, he is interested in investigating ways of improving online instruction, design, and delivery to better address the needs of e-learning students.

Jamie Costley

Jamie Costley is an assistant professor in the Institute of Education at the Moscow Higher School of Economics. He is interested in the effects of collaborative learning on cognitive load and student development in online environments.

Mik Fanguy

Mik Fanguy is a visiting professor in the English as a Foreign Language Programme at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in South Korea. His research interests include online collaborative writing and notetaking and online and blended education.