Self-Explanation

Element · All elements
Evidence · 20 claims (10 for, 9 mixed, 1 against) · 16 studies (10 causal, 3 associational, 2 quant-synthesis, 1 review), q2–q4 · 3 of 16 report an effect size · 19 claims rest on one study

Description

Self-explanation is the element in which learners explain to themselves why something is true, why a step works, or how a solution fits the problem. It is useful when the goal is to deepen understanding beyond surface completion.

Design Implications

Context

Requirements

• A prompt that asks learners to explain reasoning, not just give an answer
• Enough time to articulate and refine the explanation

Constraints

• Unguided self-explanations can stay superficial unless prompts are specific

Target Learning Goals

• Strengthen conceptual understanding, integration, and transfer.

Affordances

• Metacognition
• Explaining Their Thinking

Claims

• 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. [+M]
• Self-explanation prompting is potentially effective across a range of instructional conditions [+W]
• Faded steps were hypothesized to trigger specific self-explanation activities, tested via think-aloud protocols in Experiment 2 [~W]
• Both open and assisting self-explanation prompts foster procedural knowledge when learning with multiple representations, an effect mediated by self-explanations directed to domain principles [+W] — attached 2026-10-15 from Berthold et al. (2009), which proposed "Multi-representational worked-out examples on probability theory with self-explanation prompts"; tests this page's relationship.
• Generated self-explanations mediate the immediate posttest advantage of open-book over closed-book prompts [+W]
• Self-explaining worked examples improve declarative knowledge of CDR strategies more than solving problems [+W]
• Worked examples did not significantly increase self-explanation quality compared to problem-solving; both groups generated self-explanations of similar quality [-W]
• Male students game the system significantly more than female students in the self-explanation step of a digital learning game, across three studies [~W]
• Gaming the system in the self-explanation step predicts delayed posttest scores beyond pretest, adding 3 percent of variance [~W]
• Assisting self-explanation prompts particularly foster conceptual knowledge, an effect mediated by self-explanations on the rationale of a principle [+W]
• Hurst exponents predict daily training self-explanation quality over and above pretest self-explanation ability [~W]
• Hurst exponents do not significantly predict retention self-explanation quality over and above pretest scores [~W]
• Deterministic interaction patterns relate to delayed retention self-explanation quality but not posttest performance [~W]
• Adding a self-explanation feature to a base game improved transfer performance [+W]
• Static self-explanation prompts in the Geometry Cognitive Tutor produced greater gains on Reason and Not Enough Info test items than problem-solving practice alone [+W]
• Observational learners read and filter more than hypermedia learners, and hypermedia learners check more solution steps than self-explanation learners [~W]
• Automated gaming-the-system detectors built with XGBoost reliably recognize gaming in both problem-solving and self-explanation steps [~W]
• Self-explaining led to significantly higher written procedural knowledge than re-experiencing, opposite to the hypothesized direction [+W]

The evidence by question

• Does prompting learners to explain what they study or solve improve their understanding, and on which outcomes? 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. [+S]
• When is self-explaining worth its extra time, and what can it cost compared with being given an explanation or practising retrieval? Self-explanation beats unguided studying for equal time, but instructional explanations, problem solving and retrieval practice can be equally or more effective [~M]
• Which kinds of self-explanation prompt produce the best explanations and learning? The assisting self-explanation prompt effect: assisting prompts elicit high-quality self-explanations and deep understanding [+M]

Related Elements

• Articulation
• Think-Aloud
• Justification

Patterns That Use This Element

• Peer Instruction
• Mastery Learning

Examples

• Learners explain why each step in a worked solution is valid before moving on.

Key Sources

• Chi, M. T. H., de Leeuw, N., Chiu, M.-H., & LaVancher, C. (1994). Eliciting self-explanations improves understanding. Cognitive Science, 18(3), 439-477. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15516709cog1803_3

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	element
id	self-explanation
title	Self-Explanation
description	Self-explanation is the element in which learners explain to themselves why something is true, why a step works, or how a solution fits the problem.
status	review
canonical	True
generated	by codex/unspecified on 2026-04-08
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources	1 — chi-1994

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