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Bibliometric analysis maps cognitive load theory's evolution in education, revealing trends and implications for learning environments.
Background The integration of AI and digital learning technologies has transformed education but introduced cognitive overload challenges. Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) offers a framework for understanding information processing in technology-enhanced environments, yet its intellectual structure in the post-pandemic AI-driven landscape remains underexplored. Summary This bibliometric analysis of 1,600 open-access CLT publications (2021-2025) from HYPERLINK “ https://dimensions.ai/”Dimensions.ai examined publication trends, citation impact, collaboration patterns, and thematic clusters using VOSviewer. Results show 28% annual growth. Three clusters dominate (74% link strength): (a) Educational and Developmental Psychology (motivation, resilience, schema construction); (b) Clinical and Cognitive Sciences (cognitive interventions, well-being); and (c) Information and Computing in Human-centred Contexts (AI-driven adaptive learning). The USA, Australia, and UK lead in impact; Asia-Pacific (China, Singapore, Hong Kong) emerges as a technology-focused hub. Education and Information Technologies showed the highest mean citation rate. Key Message This first bibliometric review maps CLT’s post-2020 evolution toward human-AI symbiosis, providing an empirical framework for cognitively sustainable digital learning environments and confirming CLT’s growing interdisciplinary integration with educational technology and cognitive science.
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Gupta et al. (2026) studied this question.
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