Structuring worked examples to emphasize subgoals, via labels or visual segmentation, enhances transfer to novel problems¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · review r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2000 · checked against its sources 2026-10-18 (automated, 2 of 2 entries) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? College students studying Poisson-distribution examples with annotated, highlighted subgoals outperformed non-highlighted peers on one novel transfer item. → Atkinson 2000 q2 i? Across a series of transfer-task studies, learners studying subgoal-emphasizing examples outperformed peers given traditionally formatted examples. → Atkinson 2000 (2)

Evidence¶

Atkinson 2000¶

Atkinson, R. K., Derry, S. J., Renkl, A., & Wortham, D. (2000). Learning from Examples: Instructional Principles from the Worked Examples Research. Review of Educational Research, 70(2), 181-214. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543070002181

q2 · i? · review · r3

The review reports, citing Catrambone and Holyoak, a study in which college students learned the Poisson distribution under highlighted versus non-highlighted subgoal conditions; the groups performed comparably on similar items, but 'the highlighted condition outperformed their peers in the non-highlighted condition on one novel transfer item'.

"the participants in the highlighted condition outperformed their peers in the non-highlighted condition on one novel transfer item."

Atkinson 2000 (2)¶

Atkinson, R. K., Derry, S. J., Renkl, A., & Wortham, D. (2000). Learning from Examples: Instructional Principles from the Worked Examples Research. Review of Educational Research, 70(2), 181-214. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543070002181

q2 · i? · review · r3

The review reports that Catrambone's series of studies 'consistently documented that learners exposed to examples that emphasize subgoals outperformed peers presented with traditionally formatted examples' across a variety of transfer tasks.

"Across a series of subsequent studies involving a variety of transfer tasks, Catrambone (1994b, 1995a, 1995b, 1996, 1998; Catrambone & Holyoak, 1990) consistently documented that learners exposed to examples that emphasize subgoals outperformed peers presented with traditionally formatted examples."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

- Students who self-explain worked examples learn more effectively than those who do not, and the quality of self-explanations relates to explaining deep structure — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it¶

• The cognitive architecture has been used to design a variety of novel instructional procedures — a broader claim this one bears on
• For circle geometry problems, guidance in the form of subgoals or worked examples increased cognitive load during problem processing (Experiments 1-3) — related
• Learner highlighting of text gives a small memory benefit but no reliable comprehension benefit, and evidence on other forms of annotation is not yet recorded here — related
• Relevancy of emphasized text directs attention and influences test performance — a broader claim this one bears on