A second advantage of collaboration is that it can help share working memory load by having different members of a group con- tribute knowledge particular to them but not otherwise available to other members of the group. Recently, collaborative learning has been incorporated into cognitive load theory (Kirschner et al., in press). Kirschner, Paas, and Kirschner (2009a, 2009b) linked collabo- rative learning to cognitive load theory by proposing that a group of learners have an expanded processing capacity with reduced col- lective cognitive load compared with individuals. In completing com- plex tasks, substantial demands can be made on individual working memory. However, through collaboration, the intrinsic cognitive load of a task can be reduced by offloading the cognitive effort across a number of individual working memories. Instead of one working memory dealing with the load, several working memories work together and share the load.