Education TweetRethink STEM classwork and homework: Use worked examples during practice sessions to increase learning. Key Points• • Decades of laboratory research suggest studying worked examples enhances student learning. AbstractFindings from the fields of cognitive science and cognitive development propose a variety of evidence-based principles for improving learning. One such recommendation is that instead of having students practice solving long strings of problems on their own after a lesson, worked-out examples of problem solutions should be incorporated into practice sessions in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) classrooms. Research in scientific laboratories and real-world classrooms has also identified a number of methods for utilizing worked examples in lessons, including fading the examples; prompting self-explanation of the examples, including incorrect examples; and providing opportunities for students to compare multiple examples.Each of these methods has been shown to lend itself well to particular types of learning goals. Implications for education policy are discussed, including rethinking the ways in which STEM textbooks are constructed, finding ways to support educators in recognizing and implementing effective cognitive science-based pedagogical techniques, and changing the climate in classrooms to include the perception of errors as a functional part of the learning process.

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Proportional reasoning failures seem to constitute most errors in probabilistic reasoning, yet there is little empirical evidence about its role for attaining probabilistic knowledge and how to effectively intervene with students who have less proportional reasoning skills. We examined the contributions of students' proportional reasoning skill and example-based practice when learning about probabilities from a reformed seventh grade curriculum. Teachers in their regular classrooms were randomly assigned to instruct with a reformed textbook (control) or a version revised to incorporate correct and incorrect example problems with prompts to explain (treatment). Students' prior knowledge in proportional reasoning skill separately predicted probabilistic knowledge at posttest, regardless of their prior knowledge in probability or minority status. Overall, students in the treatment condition improved more in their probabilistic knowledge, if they started with less proportional reasoning skills. Our findings suggest that example-based practice is beneficial for students with less prior knowledge of proportions, likely a key concept for developing probabilistic knowledge.