Learning from worked-out examples: A study on individual differences

Abstract

The goal of this study was to Investigate individual differences in learning from worked-out examples with respect to the quality of self-explanations. Restrictions of former studies (e.g., lacking control of time-on-task) were avoided and additional research questions (e.g., reliability and dimensionality of self-explanation characteristics) were addressed. An investigation with 36 university freshmen students of education working in individual sessions was conducted. The domain was probability calculation. Prior knowledge and the quality of self-explanations (protocols of the individuals' thinking aloud) were assessed as predictors of learning. A post-test was employed to measure the learning gains as the dependent variable. The following main results were obtained. Most self-explanation characteristics could be regarded as relatively stable person characteristics. The individual differences in the quality of self-explanations were, however, found to be multidimensional. Most Important, even when controlling for time-on-task (quantitative aspect), learning gains could be substantially predicted by qualitative differences of self-explanation characteristics. In particular, successful learners tended to employ more prlnciplebased explanations, more explication of operator-goal combinations, and more anticipative reasoning. In addition, there were two types of effective learners, labeled anticipative reasoners and principle-based explainers.