The review reports that the isolated-elements mixed instructional method benefits novices but the benefit disappears for experienced learners, and that the imagination effect reverses with expertise¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2003 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Imagining procedures and relations benefitted more knowledgeable spreadsheet learners compared with studying worked examples, whereas for less knowledgeable students imagining had a negative effect relative to studying. → Kalyuga 2003

Evidence¶

Kalyuga 2003¶

Kalyuga, S., Ayres, P., Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (2003). The Expertise Reversal Effect. Educational Psychologist, 38(1), 23-31. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15326985EP3801_4

q2 · i? · review · r2

The review attributes this to Cooper, Tindall-Ford, Chandler, and Sweller (2001) experiments with students learning to use a spreadsheet, calling it "a clear example of the exper- tise reversal effect."

"More knowledgeable students who held appropriate prerequisite schemas found imagining pro- cedures and relations more beneficial for learning compared with studying worked examples, whereas less knowledge- able students found imagining procedures and relations had a negative effect compared with studying worked examples."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Concreteness, imagery, and verbal associative processes play major roles across multiple educational domains — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it

• Pretraining learners on a system's key parts and terms before the main lesson improved knowledge and real-world transfer in one VR experiment, and is reported second-hand to improve learning in multimedia studies — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it

- Instructional guidance that helps novices can become redundant or counterproductive as expertise grows. — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it¶

• Experiment 5 showed superior performance for learners who had previously studied isolated elements followed by interacting elements instruction, supporting expertise as the key factor in the technique's benefits — related
• For novice learners of complex information, the isolated-interacting elements instructional method produces superior learning compared with conventional instruction presenting all interacting information throughout — related
• The expertise reversal effect relies on changes in relative levels of element interactivity due to changes in relative levels of expertise — a broader claim this one bears on
• The imagination effect (cognitive rehearsal of example procedures) enhances learning only for learners with prior knowledge — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Expertise reversal: cognitive load effects for novices decrease, disappear, and can reverse as expertise increases — a broader claim this one bears on
• Element interactivity and expertise reversal effects: cognitive load effects diminish and may reverse as expertise increases because known elements chunk into single elements — a broader claim this one bears on
• Imagining worked examples benefits learners with adequate prior knowledge but harms performance for low-knowledge learners — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Experienced educators ranked experience-drawing and imagination questions highest and factual and technique questions lowest among eighteen literature study questions — related