The relationship between learners' prior knowledge and the optimal instructional sequence may not be straightforward¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2025 · checked against its sources 2026-10-19 (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? The two experiments' opposite near-transfer results contradict both theories' predictions, suggesting prior knowledge alone does not determine the optimal sequence. → Cheng-Wen He 2025

Evidence¶

Cheng-Wen He 2025¶

Cheng-Wen He, Logan Fiorella, Paula P. Lemons. (2025). Does Instruction-First or Problem-Solving-First Depend on Learners' Prior Knowledge? Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-025-09993-3

q3 · i? · causal · r2

Interpretation of the two randomized experiments (combined n = 505): Experiment 1's PS-I advantage supports productive failure while Experiment 2's I-PS advantage supports cognitive load theory, so "there may not be a straightforward relationship between students' level of prior knowledge and the optimal instructional sequence".

"our findings suggest there may not be a straightforward relationship between students' level of prior knowledge and the optimal instructional sequence"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

Prior Knowledge — moderator: an instructional effect differs with it

Neither instructional sequence produced significant far-transfer effects in either experiment — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
Productive Failure Improves Conceptual Learning — reports the opposite
Example-first conditions outperformed problem-first conditions on an immediate circuit test — reports the opposite
Prior Knowledge Determines New Learning — related
Prior knowledge strongly predicts post-test application and transfer scores in both topics — related
For introductory biology students with low topic-specific prior knowledge, problem-solving-first (PS-I) outperformed instruction-first (I-PS) on a near-transfer test — related
No significant interaction between condition and pre-test knowledge on learning outcomes in either topic — related

Page metadata

Field	Value
`type`	`claim`
`id`	`prior-knowledge-sequence-relationship-not-straightforward`
`title`	`The relationship between learners' prior knowledge and the optimal instructional sequence may not be straightforward`
`description`	`The relationship between learners' prior knowledge and the optimal instructional sequence may not be straightforward`
`status`	`review`
`evidence_strength`	`moderate`
`newest_evidence`	`2025`
`source_checked`	`2026-10-19`
`generated`	by `process:wiki-ingest` on `2026-10-19`
`trust`	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
`sources`	1 — `cheng-wen-he-2025`

Frontmatter is the page's machine-readable record — see the Schema & Guide.