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The worked example effect, the generation effect, and element interactivity.

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Chen, Ouhao, Kalyuga, Slava, Sweller, John·2015·Journal of Educational Psychology
DOI 10.1037/edu0000018
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Abstract

The worked example effect indicates that showing students worked examples (high guidance) is superior to problem solving (low guidance) which provides no guidance, whereas the generation effect suggests that self-generating items (low guidance) is superior to studying the externally presented answers (high guidance). This obvious contradiction between the two effects was hypothesized to be resolved by suggesting that the materials used had different levels of element interactivity. For the worked example effect, materials may be high in element interactivity, while, for the generation effect, simpler materials are used. With an increase of learner expertise, the worked example effect may be eliminated or reversed because expertise reduces element interactivity, but the generation effect should be still robust. Five 2 (levels of guidance: low and high) x 2 (levels of element interactivity: low and high) mixed factorial experiments were conducted to investigate the hypotheses. In Experiments 1 to 3, the level of learner expertise gradually increased in the domain of geometry with the results supporting hypotheses. The interaction of guidance and element interactivity was obtained with novices but the worked example effect that contributed to the interaction was eliminated or reversed with more knowledgeable students. Experiments 4 to 5 were designed to replicate the results of the first three experiments by testing students in the domain of trigonometry on both immediate and delayed tests. The results were replicated not only on an immediate test, but also on a delayed test. When combined, the results of all five experiments indicated that levels of element interactivity might be a key factor when deciding on levels of instructional guidance.

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  • Memorising the formula for the area of a parallelogram (base × height) includes 4 interacting elements for a novice: the area, the base, the multiplication relation, and the height.

    “As an example, to memorise the formula of the area of a parallelogram, the base × the height, included 4 interacting elements for a novice - the area, the base, the multiplication relation, and the height.”

    From A Cognitive Load Theory Approach to Defining and Measuring Task Complexity Through Element Interactivity (2023) · cites this paper as Chen et al. (2015)

    In §8.1.2 Materials (page unavailable), the paper uses memorising the parallelogram area formula as an example but says its five equation elements do not interact. It estimates the interacting-element count for Grade 4 students as one, not four. (LLM, conf=0.93)

    Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Calculating the area of a composite shape (as in Chen et al.'s example) involves about 25 interactive elements for novices.

    “Finally, the two separate area values added together involved another 3 elements giving, in total, about 25 interactive elements.”

    From A Cognitive Load Theory Approach to Defining and Measuring Task Complexity Through Element Interactivity (2023) · cites this paper as Chen et al. (2015)

    In §8.1.2 Materials (page unavailable), the source estimates about 20 interacting elements for Grade 4 students calculating the composite shape, not about 25. It counts adding the two area values as one element, not three. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • In Chen et al.'s (2015) experiments, materials for memorising mathematics formulae were estimated as low in element interactivity.

    “The materials for memorisation were estimated as low in element interactivity.”

    From A Cognitive Load Theory Approach to Defining and Measuring Task Complexity Through Element Interactivity (2023) · cites this paper as Chen et al. (2015)

  • When novices calculate the area of a composite shape, element interactivity is higher compared to memorising formulae.

    “However, when novices need to calculate the area of a composite shape, element interactivity is higher compared to memorising formulae.”

    From A Cognitive Load Theory Approach to Defining and Measuring Task Complexity Through Element Interactivity (2023) · cites this paper as Chen et al. (2015)

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Research works printed but not linked: 30

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Related

Authors
Chen, O., Kalyuga, S., & Sweller, J.
Affiliations
UNSW Sydney (AU)
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Educational Psychology
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2015-08
Volume
107
Issue
3
Pages
689-704
ISSN
  • 0022-0663 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-2176
DOI
10.1037/edu0000018
OpenAlex
W2142219189
Cited by
167
References
54
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 1 · 2013: 1
FWCI
13.60
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc-nd
Locations
  • Journal of Educational Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • UNSWorks (University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • UNSWorks (UNSW Sydney) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Loughborough University Research Repository (Loughborough University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • UNSWorks (UNSW Sydney)
Funders
China Scholarship Council
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Visual and Cognitive Learning Processes
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Adaptive Learning
Keywords
worked example effect, generation effect, element interactivity, instructional guidance, learner expertise, geometry learning, trigonometry learning, problem solving, worked examples

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