The DOI matches its Crossref record; 175 of the 176 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Why Instructional Explanations Often Do Not Work: A Framework for Understanding the Effectiveness of Instructional Explanations
Abstract
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.
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“Applying support leads to more profound student understanding as the new information is actually integrated into the students' existing knowledge schemes (Wittwer & Renkl, 2008).”
From Scaffolding Student Understanding in Small-Group Work: Students’ Uptake of Teacher Support in Subsequent Small-Group Interaction (2019) · cites this paper as Wittwer & Renkl, 2008
In the citing paper
“By applying the support provided, students are better able to continue working constructively and extend and deepen their understanding (Wittwer et al., 2005;Wittwer & Renkl, 2008).”
From Scaffolding Student Understanding in Small-Group Work: Students’ Uptake of Teacher Support in Subsequent Small-Group Interaction (2019) · cites this paper as Wittwer & Renkl, 2008
In the citing paper
“The degree to which students take up teachers' support is known to promote students' learning as new information is integrated into the students' existing knowledge schemes (Webb & Farivar, 1999;Webb, Ing, Kersting, & Nemer, 2006;Wittwer & Renkl, 2008).”
From Scaffolding Student Understanding in Small-Group Work: Students’ Uptake of Teacher Support in Subsequent Small-Group Interaction (2019) · cites this paper as Wittwer & Renkl, 2008
In the citing paper
“Scaffolding takes into account students' prior knowledge and connects closely to this prior knowledge, which makes applying a teacher's support easier for students (Wittwer & Renkl, 2008).”
From Scaffolding Student Understanding in Small-Group Work: Students’ Uptake of Teacher Support in Subsequent Small-Group Interaction (2019) · cites this paper as Wittwer & Renkl, 2008
In the citing paper
“The degree to which support is adapted to or contingent on students' understanding has been identified as an important factor that facilitates uptake (Wittwer, Nückles, Hübner, & Herbert, 2005;Wittwer & Renkl, 2008).”
From Scaffolding Student Understanding in Small-Group Work: Students’ Uptake of Teacher Support in Subsequent Small-Group Interaction (2019) · cites this paper as Wittwer & Renkl, 2008
Citations
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Working toward a stronger conceptualization of scientific explanation for science education
Braaten, M., & Windschitl, M. (2011) · Science Education · doi:10.1002/sce.20449 · Cited by 351
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Exploring feedback and student characteristics relevant for personalizing feedback strategies
Narciss, S., Sosnovsky, S., Schnaubert, L., Andrès, E., Eichelmann, A., Goguadze, G., & Melis, E. (2014) · Computers & Education · doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2013.09.011 · Cited by 260
Help Helps, But Only So Much: Research on Help Seeking with Intelligent Tutoring Systems
Aleven, V. A. W. M. M., Roll, I., McLaren, B. M., & Koedinger, K. R. (2016) · International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education · doi:10.1007/s40593-015-0089-1 · Cited by 300
Explanation and abductive inference
Lombrozo, T. (2012) · The Oxford Handbook of Thinking and Reasoning · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199734689.013.0014 · Cited by 242
Metadata
- Authors
- Wittwer, J., & Renkl, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Freiburg (DE)
- Venue
- Educational Psychologist
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2008-01-28
- Volume
- 43
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 49-64
- ISSN
- 0046-1520 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-6985
- OpenAlex
- W2084299944
- Cited by
- 277
- References
- 176
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 34 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 14
- FWCI
- 8.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Educational Psychologist (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- University of California, Santa Cruz
- Université Laval
- 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
- instructional explanations, explanation design, learning from explanations, tutoring, cooperative learning, cognitive skill acquisition, learning from text, computer-supported learning, multimedia learning, classroom teaching
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