The collective working memory effect: group learning is more efficient than individual learning for high-complexity tasks, but individual learning is more efficient for low-complexity tasks¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 2 studies · 2 theoretical r3 · q2–q3
Currency · newest study 2018 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? For high-complexity tasks, group members learn more efficiently than individual learners, while for low-complexity tasks individual learning is more efficient. → Kirschner 2018

q3 i? The collective working memory effect: collaborating learners gain from each other's working memory capacity, and the efficiency advantage of collaboration over individual learning depends on task cognitive load, with an interaction such that collaboration helps under high load and individual learning helps under low load. → Fred Paas & John Sweller 2011

Evidence¶

Kirschner 2018¶

Kirschner, P. A., Sweller, J., Kirschner, F., & Zambrano R., J. (2018). From Cognitive Load Theory to Collaborative Cognitive Load Theory. Intern. J. Comput.-Support. Collab. Learn. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11412-018-9277-y

q2 · i? · theoretical · r3

A theoretically derived hypothesis that the article reports was experimentally confirmed by F. Kirschner et al. (2011); evidence is attributed secondhand and the text does not print the experiment's sample, statistics or effect sizes. The efficiency is 'affected by the trade-off between the possibility to divide information processing amongst the WMs of the group members' and the costs of communication and coordination.

"for high-complexity tasks, group members would learn in a more efficient way - both in terms of the learning process and outcomes - than individual learners, while for low-complexity tasks, individual learning would be more efficient"

Fred Paas & John Sweller 2011¶

Fred Paas & John Sweller. (2011). An Evolutionary Upgrade of Cognitive Load Theory: Using the Human Motor System and Collaboration to Support the Learning of Complex Cognitive Tasks. Educ Psychol Rev (2012) 24:27–45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-011-9179-2

q3 · i? · theoretical · r3

Cognitive load experiments comparing group versus individual learning on high- and low-load tasks confirmed the hypothesized interaction: for high-load tasks the benefits of distributing load exceeded coordination costs, while for low-load tasks "inter-individual communication and coordination of information were unnecessary" and individual learners showed higher learning efficiency.

"In general, the results of Kirschner et al. experiments confirmed this interaction hypothesis. For learning tasks imposing a high load, individual learners did not have sufficient processing capacity to successfully process the information."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• The efficiency advantage of prior collaborative experience emerges under high information density but not under low information density — related
• The evolutionary analogy for a smaller working memory being more efficient is doubtful
• Collaborative learning distributes cognitive load across multiple working memories, aiding learning of high-load tasks — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Collaborative tasks should be complex enough that joint effort is worthwhile, engaging the collective working memory effect — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Unrecognised prior-knowledge asymmetry and absent prior group experience negatively affect learning in complex collaborative tasks — related
• Collaborative situations often fail to be productive in practice, so orchestrating collaboration is not simple — related
• Collaborating learners learn more effectively and efficiently than individual learners on cognitively challenging tasks, but group work becomes disadvantageous on cognitively unchallenging tasks — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Collaboration facilitates learning only under specific knowledge and experience conditions; with advanced learners it can be detrimental via the expertise reversal effect — related
• Experienced groups show higher instructional efficiency than inexperienced groups in the delayed retention test after collaborative learning — related