Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching

By Paul A. Kirschner, John Sweller, Richard E. Clark. 2006

7,084 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Subfields: Developmental and Educational Psychology, Education, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/cb9f9f2768fbb5eeab699c9147d622fc68b9edac

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Developmental and Educational Psychology

1. Fred Paas
2. John Sweller
3. Tamara van Gog
4. J. V. van Merriënboer
5. Alexander Renkl
6. Slava Kalyuga
7. Paul A. Kirschner
8. Richard E. Mayer

In Education

1. Fred Paas
2. John Sweller
3. J. V. van Merriënboer
4. Tamara van Gog
5. Manu Kapur
6. Paul A. Kirschner
7. Slava Kalyuga
8. Alexander Renkl

In Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

1. Fred Paas
2. John Sweller
3. Tamara van Gog
4. J. V. van Merriënboer
5. Slava Kalyuga
6. Alexander Renkl
7. Paul Ayres
8. Paul A. Kirschner

Citations in the corpus

• The Role of Direct Strategy Instruction and Indirect Activation of Self-Regulated Learning—Evidence from Classroom Observation Studies (2020, background): “Complex learning environments that contain much information, but only minimal structure or guidance, will be detrimental for learning since they increase cognitive load (Kirschner et al. 2006).”
• Comparing Four Instructional Techniques for Promoting Robust Knowledge (2015, background): “…some practice regimens cannot support learning until learners have acquired sufficient knowledge to guide themselves, based on limitations of working memory, the role of working memory in creating long-term knowledge, and research comparing guided and unguided instruction (Kirschner et al. 2006).”
• Student-centered Education and Constructivism: Challenges, Concerns, and Clarity for Teachers (2016, background): “Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006) demonstrably show that guided instruction has been far more successful for student learning than discovery learning, constructivism, problem-based learning, and inquiry based learning.”
• Virtual Patient Simulations in Health Professions Education: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis by the Digital Health Education Collaboration (2019, positive): “freedom cannot be an excuse for neglecting guidance in relation to learning objectives [107,108].”
• Retention in Online Courses (2016, background): “This could place novice-level learners, who are used to the structured forms of face-to-face courses, in the fluid, ill-structured domains of online environments, leading to demotivation and attrition (Bradford, 2011; Driscoll, 2005; Kirschner et al., 2006; McQuaid, 2009; Paas et al., 2004; Schaarsm”
• ‘Oh, was that “experiential learning”?!’ Spaces, synergies and surprises with Kolb’s learning cycle (2016, methodology): “Kirschner et al. (2006) argue that supporters of EL confuse student learning with student satisfaction when claiming better outcomes for EL methods.”
• Designing for Productive Failure (2012, background): “Scaffolding and achievement in problembased and inquiry learning: A response to Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006).”
• Does Discovery-Based Instruction Enhance Learning?. (2011, methodology): “It might also reduce the cognitive demands of discovery learning tasks and make such methods more easily employed (a concern raised by Kirschner et al., 2006; Sweller, Kirschner, & Clark, 2007 ).”
• Accounting for Beneficial Effects of Worked Examples in Tutored Problem Solving (2010, background): “…effectiveness of instructional features of Cognitive Tutors, Koedinger and Aleven (2007) highlighted an “assistance dilemma” between research-based recommendations for more guidance/assistance (Kirschner et al. 2006), on one hand, versus more desirable difficulties (Bjork 1994), on the other hand.”
• Mad City Mystery: Developing Scientific Argumentation Skills with a Place-based Augmented Reality Game on Handheld Computers (2007, background): “This finding suggests that, as Kirschner et al .”
• Cognitive Load Theory and the Role of Learner Experience: An Abbreviated Review for Educational Practitioners (2008, background): “These approaches, which include discovery learning (Bruner, 1961), anchored instruction (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt, 1997), problem-based learning (Evenson & Hmelo, 2000), and constructivist learning (Jonassen, 1999), to name just a few, all assume that such pedagogical techniques ”
• A Review of Empirical Literature on Inquiry Professional Development: Alignment with Best Practices and a Critique of the Findings (2012, background): “Others have questioned the effectiveness of instructional approaches like inquiry, based on the way humans learn and by citing evidence from empirical studies (Kirschner et al. 2006).”