Abstract This paper examines the effectiveness of instructional strategies that lower cognitive load by reducing task complexity (intrinsic cognitive load). Three groups of 13‐year‐old students were required to learn a mathematical task under different conditions. One group (Isolated) followed a strategy that used part‐tasks where the constituent elements were isolated from each other (element isolation). A second group (Integrated) received whole tasks where all elements were fully integrated, and a third group (Mixed) followed a mixed strategy progressing from part‐tasks to whole‐tasks. Results indicated that the part‐task strategy was effective in lowering cognitive load for all students, but only benefitted learning for students with low prior knowledge. In contrast, students with a higher prior knowledge learned significantly more having studied whole tasks during instruction compared with part‐tasks. The mixed‐mode method proved to be ineffective for both levels of prior knowledge. These results are discussed in terms of cognitive load theory. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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