Receiving instruction before problem solving improves procedural fluency more than problem solving before instruction when both phases are otherwise identical¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r3 · q3 · i2 medium
Currency · newest study 2020 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i2 Students who received instruction before problem solving scored significantly higher on procedural fluency than students who solved problems first (η² = 0.04). → Loibl 2020

Evidence¶

Loibl 2020¶

Loibl, K., Tillema, M., Rummel, N., & van Gog, T. (2020). The effect of contrasting cases during problem solving prior to and after instruction. Instructional Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-020-09504-7

q3 · i2 · causal · r3

ANCOVA in a randomized 2×2 experiment (N = 181, prior mathematics score as covariate) on the concept of variance. The instruction-first conditions outperformed problem-solving-first on procedural fluency, "F(1, 176) = 7.92, p = 0.01, η2 = 0.04".

"students performed significantly better on procedural fluency when they received instruction before problem solving (M = 1.34, SD = 0.68), compared to students who engaged in problem solving before receiving instruction (M = 1.02, SD = 0.76), F(1, 176) = 7.92, p = 0.01, η2 = 0.04"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Productive Failure Improves Conceptual Learning — reports the opposite
• Instruction before problem solving leads students to generate fewer but higher-quality solution attempts than problem solving before instruction — related
• Guidance during initial problem solving does not translate into better learning from subsequent instruction — related
• In Experiment 1, I-PS students solved the initial problem better but PS-I students learned more from the subsequent instructional video — related