Solving practice problems invested less mental effort than contrasting or erroneous examples, contrary to the worked-example-effect hypothesis¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causalr2·q3
Currency · newest study 2021 · checked against its sources 2026-10-21 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i? Practice-problem participants invested significantly less effort (M = 4.28) than contrasting-examples (M = 5.08) or erroneous-examples (M = 5.17) participants. → Lara M. van Peppen 2021
Evidence¶
Lara M. van Peppen 2021¶
Lara M. van Peppen, Peter P. J. L. Verkoeijen, Anita E. G. Heijltjes, Eva M. Janssen, Tamara van Gog. (2021). Enhancing students' critical thinking skills: is comparing correct and erroneous examples beneficial? Instructional Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-021-09559-0
q3 · i? · causal · r2
One-way ANOVA on 9-point mental-effort ratings during practice printed a main effect of Practice Type, F(3,168) = 4.37, p = .005, ηp² = .07, with Tukey post hoc contrasts as quoted; no other condition differences were significant.
"participants who solved practice problems invested significantly less effort (M = 4.28, SD = 1.11) than participants who engaged in contrasting examples (M = 5.08, SD = 1.29, p = .022) or studied erroneous examples (M = 5.17, SD = 1.19, p = .008)"
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Contrasting examples, correct examples, erroneous examples, and practice problems produced no differences in learning gains or transfer of unbiased-reasoning skills
- Learning with erroneous examples often imposed higher cognitive load than correct examples or problem-solving — related
- Task sequence effects on mental effort reverse between learning phase and transfer test — related
- Time-on-task during practice was significantly higher for correct and erroneous examples than for contrasting examples and practice problems — related
- Example-first conditions outperformed problem-first conditions on an immediate circuit test — related
- For novice learners, worked examples are more effective and often more efficient than conventional problem solving (the worked example effect) — reports the opposite
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
practice-problems-lower-mental-effort |
title |
Solving practice problems invested less mental effort than contrasting or erroneous examples, contrary to the worked-example-effect hypothesis |
description |
Solving practice problems invested less mental effort than contrasting or erroneous examples, contrary to the worked-example-effect hypothesis |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2021 |
source_checked |
2026-10-21 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-18 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — lara-m-van-peppen-2021 |
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