Adding instructional explanations to worked examples yields a small positive effect on learning, stronger for conceptual than procedural knowledge¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2010 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? A meta-analysis by Wittwer and Renkl (2010) found adding instructional explanations to worked examples had a significant, but small, positive effect on learning. → Tamara van Gog & Fred Paas & John Sweller 2010 q3 i? Instructional explanations were more helpful for acquiring conceptual than procedural knowledge, and were not necessarily more effective than prompting self-explanations. → Tamara van Gog & Fred Paas & John Sweller 2010

Evidence¶

Tamara van Gog & Fred Paas & John Sweller 2010¶

Tamara van Gog & Fred Paas & John Sweller. (2010). Cognitive Load Theory: Advances in Research on Worked Examples, Animations, and Cognitive Load Measurement. Educ Psychol Rev (2010) 22:375–378. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-010-9145-4

q3 · i? · review · r2

The review reports the meta-analysis by Wittwer and Renkl (2010) on instructional explanations in worked examples. The effect is described as "significant, but small, positive"; no numeric effect size is printed in the review, so no magnitude is reported.

"They found that adding instructional explanations to worked examples had a significant, but small, positive effect on learning, was more helpful for acquiring conceptual than procedural knowledge, and was not necessarily more effective than prompting students to provide self-explanations"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Self-explanation beats unguided studying for equal time, but instructional explanations, problem solving and retrieval practice can be equally or more effective — related
• Prompting learners to self-explain improves understanding and problem solving on immediate tests by a moderate average amount, with little evidence yet on delayed or classroom gains. — related