Accounting for Beneficial Effects of Worked Examples in Tutored Problem Solving

Abstract

Recent studies have tested the addition of worked examples to tutored problem solving, a more effective instructional approach than the untutored problem solving used in prior worked example research. These studies involved Cognitive Tutors, software designed to support problem solving while minimizing extraneous cognitive load by providing prompts for problem sub-goals, step-based immediate feedback, and context-sensitive hints. Results across eight studies in three different domains indicate that adding examples to Cognitive Tutors is beneficial, particularly for decreasing the instructional time needed and perhaps also for achieving more robust learning outcomes. These studies bolster the practical importance of examples in learning, but are also of theoretical interest. By using a stronger control condition than previous studies, these studies provide a basis for refining Cognitive Load Theory explanations of the benefits of examples. Perhaps, in addition to other reasons, examples may help simply because they more quickly provide novices with information needed to induce generalized knowledge. Keywords Worked examples . Cognitive tutors . Cognitive load theoryIn recent years, a considerable number of studies have explored the conditions under which examples aid in acquiring cognitive skills (for a review, see Atkinson et al. 2000;Renkl 2005Renkl , 2010. Among other things, researchers have discovered (1) that examples are more effective than problems in the early stages of skill acquisition, (2) that problems are more effective in later stages (e.g., Kalyuga et al. 2003), (3) that interleaving examples and problems (i.e., example-problem pairs) is more effective than presenting examples and problems in blocks (Trafton and Reiser 1993), (4) that a gradual step-by-step fading of Educ Psychol Rev

When Is It Best to Learn with All Worked Examples?

“…Given our own prior results [8], which showed better learning efficiency in alternating examples/tutored problems versus all tutored problem solving, as well as the preponderance of evidence supporting the advantages of the two-step learning process [3,4,5,6], the first part of this hypothesis (i.e., alternating examples/tutored problems > all tutored problems) was already well supported. Despite some (but limited) evidence that all examples can be more effective for learning and more efficient in mental effort, at least as compared to all untutored problem solving [9,10], our theory was that all examples might be faster than examples/tutored problems but likely at the expense of careful study and robust learning, thus hurting both learning outcome and efficiency, suggesting the second part of our hypothesis (i.e., alternating examples/tutored problems > all worked examples).…”

“…More recent studies have investigated the benefits of alternating worked examples with intelligently tutored problems [6]. These empirical investigations differ from more traditional worked examples research by the inclusion of tutored problems to solve, which provide step-by-step guidance in the form of hints and error feedback and thus offer more scaffolding than ordinary problems.…”

An Interview Reflection on “Intelligent Tutoring Goes to School in the Big City”

“…Some approaches to supporting student metacognition and motivation, such as help-seeking (Roll et al 2014), sense-making on errors (Mathan and Koedinger 2003), or reducing gaming the system (Baker et al 2006) have been demonstrated to improve outcomes, but have not been incorporated, perhaps in part because of the cost of technical development. In some cases where better outcomes in rigorous experimental studies have been clearly achieved, such as learning benefits for adding menu-based selfexplanation (e.g., Aleven and Koedinger 2002), adding worked examples (e.g., Salden et al 2010) or adding more personalized problem scenarios (Walkington 2013), there has been some limited influence on the product. However, it has not always been in line with particulars of the research design (e.g., Carnegie Learning added an upfront example in each unit, but the recommended approximate 50-50 example-problem ratio and use of fading were not incorporated).…”

Exemplar Learning and Schematization in Language Development

“…This prediction comes to the fore from associative theories of perceptual learning (e.g., McLaren andMackintosh, 2000, -referenced in Nelson andSanjuan 2008). In these theories, perceptual learning results from the extent to which the components of a stimulus are retrieved or activated by way of the associations among the various components themselves and associations with other aspects of the experimental situation.…”

“…They are meanwhile used in many US schools. In a whole series of studies, it was found that "enriching" Cognitive Tutor with worked examples further improves this intelligent tutoring system (see Salden et al 2010). The most robust effect of including examples is that substantial learning time is saved.…”