When problem solving is superior to studying worked examples.

By Slava Kalyuga, Paul Chandler, Juhani Tuovinen, John Sweller. 2001

577 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Interactions between levels of learner knowledge in a domain and levels of instructional guidance were investigated. Inexperienced mechanical trade apprentices were presented with either a series of worked examples to study or problems to solve. On subsequent tests, inexperienced trainees benefited most from the worked examples condition, with this group performing better with lower ratings of mental load than similar trainees who solved problems. With more experience in the domain, worked examples became redundant and problem solving proved superior. It is suggested that the relative effectiveness of either worked examples or problem solving depends heavily on levels of learner knowledge.

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

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/d03c46c0501c91824a4060ce541ebd79d92dc02d

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In Developmental and Educational Psychology

In Education

In Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

Citations in the corpus

Example-Based Learning: Integrating Cognitive and Social-Cognitive Research Perspectives (2010, methodology): “2001; Kalyuga and Sweller 2004; Mwangi and Sweller 1998; Sweller and Cooper 1985), at least for low ability or low prior knowledge learners (Cooper and Sweller 1987; Kalyuga et al. 2001).”
The worked example and expertise reversal effect in less structured tasks : Learning to reason about legal cases (2013, background): “Because processing redundant worked-out steps induces ineffective working memory load and also prevents students from practicing with problem solving by themselves from which more advanced students’ learning might still benefit, learning is hampered for advanced students by example study relative to”
Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning. IES Practice Guide. NCER 2007-2004. (2007, background): “67 Dunlosky, Rawson, and McDonald (2002); Karpicke (2007). 68 E.g., Thompson, Wegner, and Bartling (1978). 69 E.”
Structuring the Transition From Example Study to Problem Solving in Cognitive Skill Acquisition: A Cognitive Load Perspective (2003, background): “In a recent study, Kalyuga, Chandler, Tuovinen, and Sweller (2001) analyzed mechanical trade apprentices’ learning about relay circuits and their programming in different stages of skill ac quisition.”
The worked-example effect using ill-defined problems: Learning to recognise designers' styles (2009, methodology): “We did not obtain an expertise reversal effect in these experiments (Kalyuga et al., 2001).”
Using Electroencephalography to Measure Cognitive Load (2010, background): “Sometimes, however, they are taken after a series of tasks (e.g., Kalyuga et al. 2001), in which case they presumably represent the overall cognitive load.”
Exploring the Assistance Dilemma in Experiments with Cognitive Tutors (2007, result): “We do not know of such a direct comparison, though it seems unlikely to hold in general given results like those of Trafton and Reiser’s (1993) interleaving effect, expertise reversal effect (Kalyuga et al. 2001), and generation effects (Slamecka and Graf 1978).”
Cognitive Load Theory and Complex Learning: Recent Developments and Future Directions (2005, background): “In their experiment with novices, Kalyuga et al. (2001) and Tuovinen and Sweller (1999) demonstrated the worked example effect in which worked examples were superior to solving the equivalent problems.”