Drawing can underperform the generative strategy of explaining, particularly on verbally aligned tests¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · review r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Explaining a video lecture on the human kidney led to significantly better retention and transfer than drawing or rewatching it. → Dechamps 2025 q2 i? In a poem-learning experiment, explaining produced better immediate item recognition and source memory than drawing, but drawing showed a slower rate of forgetting. → Dechamps 2025 (2)

Evidence¶

Dechamps 2025¶

Dechamps, T., & Skulmowski, A. (2025). The Effective Design of Tasks Involving Learning by Drawing: Current Trends and Methodological Progress in Research on Drawing to Learn. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-025-10026-2

q2 · i? · review · r2

The review reports that in Fiorella et al. (2020), participants compared drawing, explaining, and rewatching a video lecture on the human kidney; a significant effect of learning strategy on retention and transfer was found, and "the explain group reached significantly better results than the draw and rewatch groups."

"The explain group reached significantly better results than the draw and rewatch groups (Fiorella et al., 2020)."

Dechamps 2025 (2)¶

Dechamps, T., & Skulmowski, A. (2025). The Effective Design of Tasks Involving Learning by Drawing: Current Trends and Methodological Progress in Research on Drawing to Learn. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-025-10026-2

q2 · i? · review · r2

The review reports that in Xie et al. (2024) Experiment 2, explaining led to significantly better immediate item recognition and source memory than drawing, but "drawing yielded a slower rate of forgetting between the immediate and delayed assessment compared to explaining."

"Yet, drawing yielded a slower rate of forgetting between the immediate and delayed assessment compared to explaining."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Prompting learners to self-explain, one generative strategy, improves learning by a moderate average amount; other generative activities are not tested by the evidence recorded here — a broader claim this one bears on
• Visualizing support—provided diagrams or learner-generated drawings—facilitates higher-quality explanations and better comprehension than explaining text alone — related
• Provided visuals can act as a crutch: explaining with provided visuals yielded higher-quality explanations but no transfer advantage over explaining without them — related