Can collaborative learning improve the effectiveness of worked examples in learning mathematics?

Abstract

Worked examples and collaborative learning have both been shown to facilitate learning. However, the testing of both strategies almost exclusively has been conducted independently of each other. The main aim of the current study was to examine interactions between these 2 strategies. Two experiments (N = 182 and N = 122) were conducted with Grade-7 Indonesian students, comparing learning to solve algebra problems, with higher and lower levels of complexity, collaboratively or individually. Results from both experiments indicated that individual learning was superior to collaborative learning when using worked examples. In contrast, in Experiment 2, when learning from problem solving using problem-solving search, collaboration was more effective than individual learning. However, again in Experiment 2, studying worked examples was overall superior to learning from solving problems, particularly for more complex problems. It can be concluded that while collaboration could be beneficial when learning under problem solving conditions, it may be counterproductive when studying worked examples.

Collaborative learning effects when students have complete or incomplete knowledge

“…Nevertheless, there are situations where individual learning is superior to collaboration. For example, recent evidence has emerged that if worked examples are used to facilitate learning rather than problem solving, individual learning is superior to collaboration (see Kirschner, Paas, & Kirschner, ; Retnowati, Ayres, & Sweller, ).…”

“…The studies by Kirschner et al () and Retnowati et al () provide fresh insights into collaboration based on cognitive load theory (Kirschner, Sweller, Kirschner, & Zambrano, in press; Sweller, Ayres, & Kalyuga, ). In the present study, we continue a cognitive load theory approach, arguing that an incomplete knowledge base is important to create optimum conditions for collaborative learning.…”

From Cognitive Load Theory to Collaborative Cognitive Load Theory

“…Finally, if groups are composed of advanced students (i.e., more-knowledgeable learners) and are instructed with information already learned, collaboration can even be detrimental as the group members can experience an expertise reversal effect that occurs when instructional procedures that are beneficial for novices have negative consequences for more expert learners (Sweller et al 2011a(Sweller et al , 2011b. In sum, what students already know may determine whether collaboration is effective (Retnowati et al 2017;Zambrano et al 2017b;Zhang et al 2016).…”

Designing worked examples for learning tangent lines to circles

“…Evidence on the effectiveness of worked example based instruction has been shown by cognitive load theorists [9,11,14,15] using control experiments. How to implement the instruction in the classroom may consider the nature of the interaction between teacher and students in the classroom, which may be different with the experiment procedure used by the researchers.…”

“…During the instruction, it is also important to motivate students to understand meaningfully rather than just memorizing. For a complex learning material, individually acquiring the problem and the solution steps are suggested than with companion of their peers [14,15]. After finishing all of the paired problem solving, students may be given the correct answer for them clarifying their work result.…”