Cooperative Learning and Academic Writing Skills: An Application of the Collective Working Memory Effect

Surwanti, Dita; Loyens, Sofie; Burke, Michael; Hikmah, Isti’anatul; Gemilang, Adria Vitalya; Rikers, Remy

doi:10.3390/educsci15101392

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Cooperative Learning and Academic Writing Skills: An Application of the Collective Working Memory Effect

by

Dita Surwanti

^1,2,*

,

Sofie Loyens

¹

,

Michael Burke

¹

,

Isti’anatul Hikmah

²

,

Adria Vitalya Gemilang

²

and

Remy Rikers

¹

Department of Education and Learning Sciences, Utrecht University, 3584 Utrecht, The Netherlands

²

Department of English Education, Universitas Sarjanawiyata Tamansiswa, Yogyakarta 55167, Indonesia

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Educ. Sci. 2025, 15(10), 1392; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15101392

Submission received: 26 August 2025 / Revised: 6 October 2025 / Accepted: 15 October 2025 / Published: 17 October 2025

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Abstract

Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) has primarily been applied to individual learning, while research on collaborative learning under CLT remains inconclusive. This experimental study investigated the effect of collective working memory on cognitive load, writing performance, and learning efficiency among 150 Indonesian undergraduates. Participants were assigned to either an individual learning (control) or cooperative learning (experimental) condition. Baseline writing performance differed between groups, so gain scores were analyzed. Results showed that both groups improved significantly in writing performance, with no significant differences between conditions. Cognitive load increased slightly in the cooperative learning group, while learning efficiency showed a small positive trend. These findings suggest that cooperative learning may support writing performance and efficiency in complex tasks, although clear advantages over individual learning were not established. Further research is needed with balanced baseline groups and longer interventions.

Keywords: collective working memory; cooperative learning; academic writing

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MDPI and ACS Style

Surwanti, D.; Loyens, S.; Burke, M.; Hikmah, I.; Gemilang, A.V.; Rikers, R. Cooperative Learning and Academic Writing Skills: An Application of the Collective Working Memory Effect. Educ. Sci. 2025, 15, 1392. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15101392

AMA Style

Surwanti D, Loyens S, Burke M, Hikmah I, Gemilang AV, Rikers R. Cooperative Learning and Academic Writing Skills: An Application of the Collective Working Memory Effect. Education Sciences. 2025; 15(10):1392. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15101392

Chicago/Turabian Style

Surwanti, Dita, Sofie Loyens, Michael Burke, Isti’anatul Hikmah, Adria Vitalya Gemilang, and Remy Rikers. 2025. "Cooperative Learning and Academic Writing Skills: An Application of the Collective Working Memory Effect" Education Sciences 15, no. 10: 1392. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15101392

APA Style

Surwanti, D., Loyens, S., Burke, M., Hikmah, I., Gemilang, A. V., & Rikers, R. (2025). Cooperative Learning and Academic Writing Skills: An Application of the Collective Working Memory Effect. Education Sciences, 15(10), 1392. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15101392

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Cooperative Learning and Academic Writing Skills: An Application of the Collective Working Memory Effect

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