Examples and tutored problems: How can self-explanation make a difference to learning?

“The final publication is available at link.springer.com”.Learning from worked examples has been shown to be superior to unsupported problem solving in numerous studies. Examples reduce the cognitive load on the learner's working memory, thus helping the student to learn faster or deal with more complex questions. Only recently researchers started investigating the worked example effect in Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs). We conducted a study to investigate the effect of using worked examples in combination with supported problem-solving in SQL-Tutor. We had three conditions: Examples Only (EO), Problems Only (PO), and Alternating Examples/Problems (AEP). After completing a problem, students received a self-explanation prompt that focused on the concepts used in the problem, to make sure that students acquire conceptual knowledge. On the other hand, examples were followed by self-explanation prompts that focused on procedural knowledge. The study showed that the AEP and PO conditions outperformed EO in learning gain, while AEP outperformed PO in conceptual knowledge acquisition. Therefore, interleaving examples with supported problems is an optimal choice compared to using examples or supported problems only in SQL-Tutor

Exploring the Effect of Worked Example Problem-based Learning on Learners' Web-technology Design Performance

[[abstract]]The process of creating media products, maximizing the merits of advanced interactive technology is very complex. Media producers are highly demand of their cognitive abilities to integrate multiple domains of knowledge, which may include graphic design, technology skills, and problem-solving skills. The problem-based learning strategy (PBL), starting learning with a real-world problem, has been frequently adopted to develop the competency of learners with a major in technology or media production. Despite the fact that PBL effects have been reasonably argued and empirically tested, its associated learning tasks may overload the learners. This paper, grounded on the cognitive load theory, aimed to investigate the effects of worked examples on learners’ web-technology design skills. The web-technology design problem was chosen as the main problem for participants to explore during the PBL activity. A series of problems and associated worked examples were developed. Furthermore, a web-based learning system was created to engage participants in observing the problems, watching the examples and practicing solving the given problems. A pre-and-post experimental design was adopted to test the effect of worked-examples. 80 university students, with a major in instructional technology programs, were invited to participate in the study and were randomly assigned to one of the intervention conditions. The finding supported the positive effect of the worked example on enhancing learners’ web-technology design performance.[[notice]]補正完畢[[conferencetype]]國際[[conferencedate]]20131118~20131122[[iscallforpapers]]Y[[conferencelocation]]Bali, Indonesia[[countrycodes]]ID

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Examples, Practice Problems, or Both? Effects on Motivation and Learning in Shorter and Longer Sequences

Research suggests some sequences of examples and problems (i.e., EE, EP) are more effective (higher test performance) and efficient (attained with equal/less mental effort) than others (PP, sometimes also PE). Recent findings suggest this is due to motivational variables (i.e., self-efficacy), but did not test this during the training phase. Moreover, prior research used only short task sequences. Therefore, we investigated effects on motivational variables, effectiveness, and efficiency in a short (Experiment 1; 4 learning tasks; n=157) and longer task sequence (Experiment 2; 8 tasks; n=105). With short sequences, all example conditions were more effective, efficient, and motivating than PP. With longer sequences, all example conditions were more motivating and efficient than PP, but only EE was more effective than PP. Moreover, EE was most efficient during training, regardless of sequence length. These results suggest that example study (only) is more effective, efficient and more motivating than PP