Working memory compensatorily moderates the explaining intervention's advantage: supported self-explaining benefits students with weaker working memory most¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2016 · checked against its sources 2026-10-23 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? The effect favoring EXP over WP on comparison accuracy was significant for lower-working-memory students and transitioned to nonsignificance at 1.09 SDs above the sample mean. → Fuchs 2016

Evidence¶

Fuchs 2016¶

Fuchs, L. S., Malone, A., Schumacher, R. F., Namkung, J., Hamlett, C. L., Jordan, N. C., Siegler, R. S., Gersten, R., & Changas, P. (2016). Supported Self-Explaining during Fraction Intervention. Journal of Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000073

q3 · i? · causal · r2

OLS path-analytic moderation (Preacher & Hayes framework) on comparison accuracy; working memory was the only significant moderator (R2 = .20, F(5,136) = 6.81, p < .001), and the moderator × condition term was significant (t = -2.02, p = .047); probed with Johnson-Neyman, EXP outperformed WP significantly for students with lower working memory. The article prints no effect size for the moderation itself (R2 is the whole model's fit, not the size of the interaction), so impact is coded i?: not established, which is not the same as a null or zero effect.

"The effect favoring EXP over WP transitioned to nonsignificance at 1.09 SDs above the at-risk sample mean on working memory. Thus, consistent with expectations, a compensatory moderator effect was demonstrated."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Working Memory — moderator: an instructional effect differs with it

Related Claims¶

• Reasoning moderates the word-problem intervention's advantage, and the intervention did not compensate for low reasoning — related
• Supported self-explaining produces higher-quality explanations of fraction magnitude differences than a word-problem component — related
• Schema-based word-problem intervention improves multiplicative fraction word-problem solving, with no advantage of the explaining component on that outcome — related
• A self-explanation instruction during rereading improves monitoring accuracy for all readers above mere rereading (Experiment 2) — reports the opposite
• Working memory capacity predicts monitoring accuracy after a single reading but not after rereading, independently of comprehension ability (Experiment 2) — related