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Learning from examples is a very effective means of initial cognitive skill acquisition. There is an enormous body of research on the specifics of this learning method. This article presents an instructionally oriented theory of example-based learning that integrates theoretical assumptions and findings from three research areas: learning from worked examples, observational learning, and analogical reasoning. This theory has descriptive and prescriptive elements. The descriptive subtheory deals with (a) the relevance and effectiveness of examples, (b) phases of skill acquisition, and (c) learning processes. The prescriptive subtheory proposes instructional principles that make full exploitation of the potential of example-based learning possible., (Copyright © 2013 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.)

The media play a key role in forming opinions by influencing people´s understanding and perception of a topic. People gather information about topics of interest from the internet and print media, which employ various news frames to attract attention. One example of a common news frame is the human-interest frame, which emotionalizes and dramatizes information and often accentuates individual affectedness. Our study investigated effects of human-interest frames compared to a neutral-text condition with respect to perceived risk, emotions, and knowledge acquisition, and tested whether these effects can be "generalized" to common variants of the human-interest frame. Ninety-one participants read either one variant of the human-interest frame or a neutrally formulated version of a newspaper article describing the effects of invasive species in general and the Asian ladybug (an invasive species) in particular. The framing was achieved by varying the opening and concluding paragraphs (about invasive species), as well as the headline. The core text (about the Asian ladybug) was the same across all conditions. All outcome variables on framing effects referred to this common core text. We found that all versions of the human-interest frame increased perceived risk and the strength of negative emotions compared to the neutral text. Furthermore, participants in the human-interest frame condition displayed better (quantitative) learning outcomes but also biased knowledge, highlighting a potential dilemma: Human-interest frames may increase learning, but they also lead to a rather unbalanced view of the given topic on a "deeper level".

The current research investigates a combination of two instructional approaches, tutored problem solving and worked examples. Tutored problem solving with automated tutors has proven to be an effective instructional method. Worked-out examples have been shown to be an effective complement to untutored problem solving, but it is largely unknown whether they are an effective complement to tutored problem solving. Further, while computer-based learning environments offer the possibility of adaptively transitioning from examples to problems while tailoring to an individual learner, the effectiveness of such machine-adapted example fading is largely unstudied. To address these research questions, one lab and one classroom experiment were conducted. Both studies compared a standard Cognitive Tutor with two example-enhanced Cognitive Tutors, in which the fading of worked-out examples occurred either in a fixed way or adaptively. Results indicate that the adaptive fading of worked-out examples leads to higher transfer performance on delayed posttests than the other two methods., (Copyright © 2009 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.)

We investigated the processes that make seductive details (i.e., interesting but irrelevant pictures and text passages in learning materials) harmful for learning scientific concepts and principles. In our experiment, students (N = 113) learned without seductive details (control condition) or with seductive details, and afterwards worked on a knowledge test. They then retrospectively verbalized their thoughts during learning while watching a replay of their eye-movements during the learning session (cued retrospective reporting). Our findings showed that seductive details hampered the transfer of knowledge in students with lower final school grades (d = -0.60). The verbal reports from the seductive details group, which were rated according to three detrimental cognitive processes, indicated that several students constructed mental models around the seductive details (i.e., diversion). This diversion led to worse recall of the relevant learning contents. The detrimental effects of seductive details therefore seem to be mainly caused by diversion.

Reanalyzed findings of an earlier study on learning with worked-out examples (n=56 vocational school students) and identified different ways of dealing with worked-out examples and related them to learning outcomes and learners' mental efforts. Results show that elaboration training had a positive effect on the quality of example elaboration. Discusses new insights into example-based learning. (SLD)

Proposed a successive integration of problem-solving elements into example study until learners solved problems on their own and tested the effectiveness of this "fading" method against a traditional method of using example-problem pairs. Results with 20 ninth graders in Germany, 54 U.S. college students, and 45 U.S. college students show that the procedure fosters near transfer, although the far transfer issue is less clear. (SLD)

Describes a replication study that explored differences between intermediate experts and novices mastering recurrent demands using a computer-based simulation. Functionality of mental models, declarative knowledge, acceptance of the learning environment, and intrinsic motivation to learn are discussed, and results that show no advantage for intermediate experts are considered. (LRW)

The influence of multiple learning contexts and problem solving guidance on the acquisition of applicable knowledge and subjective learning outcomes in complex learning was studied with 60 economics students from a vocational school. No single learning condition was superior with regard to all learning outcomes. The problem of self-evaluation of learning outcomes in complex learning is discussed. (SLD)

A worked-out or an open inventing problem with contrasting cases can prepare learners for learning from subsequent instruction differently regarding motivation and cognition. In addition, such activities potentially initiate different learning processes during the subsequent ("future") learning phase. In this experiment (N = 45 pre-service teachers), we aimed to replicate effects of earlier studies on learning outcomes and, on this basis, to analyze respective learning processes during the future-learning phase via think-aloud protocols. The inventing group invented criteria to assess learning strategies in learning journals while the worked-example group studied the same problem in a solved version. Afterwards, the pre-service teachers thought aloud during learning in a computer-based learning environment. We did not find substantial motivational differences (interest, self-efficacy), but the worked-example group clearly outperformed their counterparts in transfer (BF+0 > 313). We found moderate evidence for the hypothesis that their learning processes during the subsequent learning phase was deepened: the example group showed more elaborative processes, more spontaneous application of the canonical, but also of sub-optimal solutions than the inventing group (BFs around 4), and it tended to focus more on the most relevant learning contents. Explorative analyses suggest that applying canonical solutions to examples is one of the processes explaining why working through the solution leads to higher transfer. In conclusion, a worked-out inventing problem seems to prepare future learning more effectively than an open inventing activity by deepening and focusing subsequent learning processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research indicates that student teachers frequently have misconceptions about multimedia learning. Our experiment with N = 96 student teachers revealed that, in contrast to standard texts, refutation texts are effective to address misconceptions about multimedia learning. However, there seems to be no added benefit of making "concessions" to student teachers' prior beliefs (i.e., two-sided argumentation) in refutation texts. Moreover, refutation texts did not promote the selection of appropriate multimedia material. This study suggests that refutation texts addressing multimedia-learning misconceptions should be applied in teacher education. Yet, further support seems needed to aid the application of the corrected knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual displays are very frequently used in learning materials. Although visual displays have great potential to foster learning, they also pose substantial demands on learners so that the actual learning outcomes are often disappointing. In this article, we pursue three main goals. First, we identify the main difficulties that learners have when learning from visual displays. Knowledge about these difficulties is an important basis for selecting appropriate support procedures. Second, we present an overview of empirically tested support procedures and the evidence about their effectiveness. We distinguish between material-oriented interventions and learner-oriented interventions. Material-oriented interventions are, for example, reducing the visual displays' complexity, cueing/signaling, or physically integrating text and pictures. Learner-oriented interventions refer to the training of learning prerequisites, pre-training, and prompting. Third, we outline fruitful lines of further research with a specific focus on (a) the tentative explanations we provide on the basis of the best available evidence, (b) promising but not yet fully approved support procedures, and (c) important issues that have largely not been researched up to now. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the relevance of the worked-example effect for mathematics education. This effect refers to the finding that, in initial cognitive skill acquisition, students profit more from studying worked examples as compared to solving problems. One reason for the effectiveness of worked examples is that the students get the opportunity to interrelate principles (e.g., mathematical theorems) with multiple problem cases. A knowledge structure in which principles and multiple problem cases are represented in an interconnected way is a very good pre-condition for transfer. Several potential objections against worked examples from a mathematics education perspective are discussed (e.g., worked examples do not address typical student errors) by referring primarily to our own studies. We also propose further research exploring whether the powerful method of learning from worked-examples can be adapted to and used in other, presently intensively discussed areas of mathematics education (e.g., fostering skills of mathematical modelling). Finally, recommendations for mathematics education are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the effects of rapid assessment tasks and different adaptive restudy prompts in multimedia learning. The adaptivity was based on rapid assessment tasks that were interspersed throughout a multimedia learning environment. In Experiment 1 (N = 52 university students), we analyzed to which extent rapid assessment tasks were reactive (i.e., whether these tasks change what should be measured) and, thus, had per se positive effects on learning. In Experiment 2 (N = 41 university students), we analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of specific and unspecific restudy prompts (i.e., focus on a very specific piece of knowledge or on the corresponding knowledge sub-area). We found no reactivity associated with the assessment tasks. Most specific knowledge gaps could be closed by either type of prompt. However, unspecific prompts fostered the overall learning outcomes more than specific prompts. The present adaptation procedure is a good starting point for developing powerful adaptation mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main research goal of the present study was to investigate in how far pre-training eye movements can facilitate knowledge acquisition in multimedia (pre-training principle). We combined considerations from research on eye movement modeling and pre-training to design and test a non-verbal eye movement-based pre-training. Participants in the experimental condition watched an animated circle moving in close spatial resemblance to a static visualization of a solar plant accompanied by a narration in a subsequently presented learning environment. This training was expected to foster top-down processes as reflected in gaze behavior during the learning process and enhance knowledge acquisition. We compared two groups (N = 45): participants in the experimental condition received pre-training in a first step and processed the learning material in a second step, whereas the control group underwent the second step without any pre-training. The pre-training group outperformed the control group in their learning outcomes, particularly in knowledge about processes and functions of the solar plant. However, the superior learning outcomes in the pre-training group could not be explained by eye-movement patterns. Furthermore, the pre-training moderated the relationship between experienced stress and learning outcomes. In the control group, high stress levels hindered learning, which was not found for the pre-training group. On a delayed posttest participants were requested to draw a picture of the learning content. Despite a non-significant effect of training on the quality of drawings, the pre-training showed associations between learning outcomes at the first testing time and process-related aspects in the quality of their drawings. Overall, non-verbal pre-training is a successful instructional intervention to promote learning processes in novices although these processes did not directly reflect in learners' eye movement behavior during learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research has shown that tutored problem solving with intelligent software tutors is an effective instructional method, and that worked examples are an effective complement to this kind of tutored problem solving. The work on the expertise reversal effect suggests that it is desirable to tailor the fading of worked examples to individual students’ growing expertise levels. One lab and one classroom experiment were conducted to investigate whether adaptively fading worked examples in a tutored problem-solving environment can lead to higher learning gains. Both studies compared a standard Cognitive Tutor with two example-enhanced versions, in which the fading of worked examples occurred either in a fixed manner or in a manner adaptive to individual students’ understanding of the examples. Both experiments provide evidence of improved learning results from adaptive fading over fixed fading over problem solving. We discuss how to further optimize the fading procedure matching each individual student’s changing knowledge level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In two studies, students' difficulties in using multiple external representations were effectively addressed. In a first explorative study (N = 16), we investigated the allocation of visual attention (as assessed by gaze data) on external representations, its relation to learning and learners' beliefs on the representations' functions. Results confirmed that students were not aware of the functions. In a subsequent experiment (N = 30), we analysed effects of informing students about the function of diagrams in worked examples on learning, mediating effects of visual attention and moderating effects of prior knowledge. The instruction had strong effects on learning, which were partially mediated by visual attention. Prior knowledge moderated both, the effects of the instruction on visual attention and of visual attention on learning. Implications for research into multiple representations and instructional design are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In initial skill acquisition in well-structured domains, example-based learning typically leads to better learning outcomes than learning by doing. Cognitive Load Theory explains this result by the worked-example effect: Example-based learning prevents learners from using load-intensive strategies and focuses their attention on the principles to-be-learned. In two experiments, we investigated the use of examples for acquiring a new learning strategy, namely computer-based concept mapping. Experiment 1 compared learners who studied two examples on how to construct a concept map with learners who practiced concept mapping by constructing two concept maps on their own. We did not find significant differences in learning outcomes. Therefore, in Experiment 2, we introduced a third group of learners who studied examples with the additional support of self-explanation prompts. Self-explaining examples led to better learning outcomes than learning with examples without prompts or practicing. With respect to cognitive load, we found that examples without prompts released learners’ working memory compared to practicing, whereas self-explaining examples led to a higher cognitive load compared to examples without self-explanation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This field experiment tested whether a special type of worked-out examples (i.e., heuristic examples) helps learners develop better conceptual knowledge about mathematical proving and proving skills than a control condition focusing on mathematical contents. Additionally, we analysed the benefits of self-explanation prompts and completion requirements in a 2×2-design. The participants'' (N =111 student teachers) proving skills and their conceptual knowledge were significantly better when learning with heuristic examples as compared to the control condition. Completion requirements impaired learning especially in combination with self-explanation prompts. The sole provision of self-explanation prompts, in contrast, fostered conceptual knowledge as well as skills. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Although explanations are a common means of instruction, research shows that they often do not contribute to learning. To unravel the factors giving rise to the ineffectiveness of instructional explanations, we propose a framework that brings together empirical work on instructional explanations from a variety of research fields, including classroom instruction, tutoring, cooperative learning, cognitive skill acquisition, learning from texts, computer-supported learning, and multimedia learning. In our framework, we identify the distinctive characteristics of instructional explanations, present general guidelines for designing instructional explanations, and describe factors influencing both the generation and use of instructional explanations. It is argued that future research should uncover in more detail the interrelations between the different aspects of providing and using instructional explanations and their specific effects on learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]