The DOI matches its Crossref record; 33 of the 35 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 1 of the 14 sources its claims cite were checked for support.
The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction: Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning
Open accessAbstract
In a study with 112 third- and fourth-grade children, we measured the relative effectiveness of discovery learning and direct instruction at two points in the learning process: (a) during the initial acquisition of the basic cognitive objective (a procedure for designing and interpreting simple, unconfounded experiments) and (b) during the subsequent transfer and application of this basic skill to more diffuse and authentic reasoning associated with the evaluation of science-fair posters. We found not only that many more children learned from direct instruction than from discovery learning, but also that when asked to make broader, richer scientific judgments, the many children who learned about experimental design from direct instruction performed as well as those few children who discovered the method on their own. These results challenge predictions derived from the presumed superiority of discovery approaches in teaching young children basic procedures for early scientific investigations.
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Claims the paper makes
7 Own result · 6 No full text of the sources · 6 Own method · 2 Own interpretation · 1 Partly supported · 1 Sources not found · 1 Not checked yet · accuracy not yet measured
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“When the direct-instruction procedure was adapted from an experimental script to a lesson plan implemented in a classroom setting, mean CVS performance increased from 30% prior to instruction to 96% following instruction (Toth, Klahr, & Chen, 2000).”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > Abstract
What the sources say
- Partly supportedcites Toth, Klahr, & Chen, 2000 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
The CVS Performance section reports that mean performance in individual interviews increased from 30% before instruction to 97% after instruction, not 96%. The classroom-worksheet analysis also reports 97% after instruction, but its preinstruction figure is 58%. (LLM, conf=0.90)
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Partly supported
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The results, shown in Table 2, replicated the pattern for the grand poster score: Experts and masters outperformed nonmasters, regardless of the learning paths.”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > Day 2: Poster Evaluations
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Table 2 shows that experts, discovery masters, and direct-instruction masters had higher grand poster scores than discovery nonmasters and direct-instruction nonmasters, d 5 0.83.”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > Day 2: Poster Evaluations
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Forty of the 52 direct-instruction children (77%) became masters, whereas only 12 of the 52 discovery children (23%) did so, w 2 (1, N 5 104) 5 28.0, p < .0001(with Yates correction).”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > Day 1: CVS Exploration and Assessment
plaindirectn = 52- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Moreover, there were no statistical differences among the grand poster scores for experts, discovery masters, and direct-instruction masters.”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > Day 2: Poster Evaluations
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“We found not only that many more children learned from direct instruction than from discovery learning, but also that when asked to make broader, richer scientific judgments, the many children who learned about experimental design from direct instruction performed as well as those few children who discovered the method on their own.”
- Also stated in: § Day 1: CVS Exploration and Assessment · plain
“direct instruction produced many more masters than did discovery learning.”
- Also stated in: § DISCUSSION · boosted
“these results replicate other studies in which direct instruction was clearly superior to discovery learning in facilitating children's acquisition of CVS”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > Abstract
boosteddirectn = 112- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Also stated in: § Day 1: CVS Exploration and Assessment · plain
In the paper
“Chen and Klahr (1999) demonstrated that direct instruction on CVS led to statistically and educationally significant improvement in children's ability to design simple, unconfounded experiments.”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Chen and Klahr (1999) source
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Children who became masters via direct instruction were as skilled at evaluating science-fair posters as were discovery-learning masters and experts.”
- Also stated in: § Day 2: Poster Evaluations · plain
“In other words, the grand poster scores of the three groups that achieved high levels of CVS performance via different paths were indistinguishable.”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > DISCUSSION
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Rests on an assumption: The two science-fair posters used in the transfer task are highly imperfect and thus afford wide-ranging evaluations.
- Also stated in: § Day 2: Poster Evaluations · plain
In the paper
“Moreover, students receiving direct instruction were superior to control students on a far-transfer test of experimental design administered 7 months later.”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Chen and Klahr (1999) source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“These results challenge predictions derived from the presumed superiority of discovery approaches in teaching young children basic procedures for early scientific investigations.”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > Abstract
plainn = 112- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- It may state two separate claims as one. 6
- Probably not a substantial claim. 9
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“CVS scores for direct-instruction children increased dramatically from exploration to assessment: from 1.0 to 3.1, t(51) 5 10.5, p < .0001,d 5 1.73 (see Fig. 3).Scores for children in the discovery condition also increased, but much less: from 0.6 to 1.5, t(51) 5 5.3, p < .0001,d 5 0.725.”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > Day 1: CVS Exploration and Assessment
plaindirectn = 104- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The grand poster scores of the two groups who failed to master CVS were also indis-tinguishable, but significantly lower than the scores of the three high-CVS-score groups.”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > Day 2: Poster Evaluations
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Finally, most developmental and cognitive theories predict that many of the phenomena associated with discovery learning would make it a relatively ineffective instructional method (Mayer, 2004).”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Mayer, 2004 source
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Empirical challenges come from studies demonstrating that teacher-centered methods using direct instruction are highly effective (cf.Brophy & Good, 1986;Rosenshine & Stevens, 1986), particularly for teaching multistep procedures that students are unlikely to discover on their own, such as those involved in geometry, algebra, and computer programming (Anderson, Corbett, Koedinger, & Pelletier, 1995”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Brophy & Good, 1986
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites Rosenshine & Stevens, 1986
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Anderson, Corbett, Koedinger, & Pelletier, 1995 source
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
- Not matched
None of the sources cited for this claim could be matched to a paper in Crossref, so there is nothing to check it against.
In the paper
“CVS mastery is considered a central instructional objective from a wide variety of educational perspectives (DeBoer, 1991;Duschl, 1990;Murnane & Raizen, 1988;National Research Council, 1995).”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites DeBoer, 1991
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites Duschl, 1990
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites Murnane & Raizen, 1988
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Not matched
In the paper
“For children receiving direct instruction, mean performance on CVS increased in the psychology lab from 40% correct prior to instruction to 80% correct following instruction, whereas children in the discoverylearning condition showed no significant improvement.”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Chen and Klahr (1999) source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“For example, children in discovery situations are more likely than those receiving direct instruction to encounter inconsistent or misleading feedback, to make encoding errors and causal misattributions, and to experience inadequate practice and elaboration.”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Mayer, 2004 source
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Children from both grades at each school were randomly assigned to either the direct-instruction condition or the discovery-learning condition.”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > METHOD
plainn = 112- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“During the assessment phase, the experimenter did not provide any feedback in either condition.”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > METHOD
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“It is important to note that in our operationalization, the difference between direct instruction and discovery learning does not involve a difference between ''active'' and ''passive'' learning.In both conditions, students were actively engaged in the design of their experiments and the physical manipulation of the apparatus.”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > METHOD
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“A different experimenter (blind to training condition) asked all children to evaluate two science-fair posters”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > METHOD
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Children's responses were transcribed from audiotape and coded independently by two coders.(There was 83% agreement between coders on what constituted a valid critique.)”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > METHOD
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Children were assessed individually, and the order of poster presentation was counterbalanced.”
§ The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning > METHOD
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
The paper relies on this without support.
The operationalized direct-instruction and discovery-learning conditions adequately represent the two instructional approaches despite the lack of a consistent definition of discovery learning.
“However, at the outset, we faced a difficult definitional problem because nearly 100 years of research (cf.Winch, 1913) had yet to produce a consistent definition of discovery learning.foot_0Therefore, we intentionally magnified the difference between the two instructional treatments in order to provide a strong test of the pathindependent transfer hypothesis.”
The paper relies on this without support.
The two science-fair posters used in the transfer task are highly imperfect and thus afford wide-ranging evaluations.
“An important feature of these posters is that they described highly imperfect experiments, thus affording opportunities for wide-ranging evaluations.”
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Discovery learning approaches typically do not have positive academic outcomes when compared with more traditional direct instruction (Klahr, 2004; Mayer, 2004).”
From Montessori education's impact on academic and nonacademic outcomes: A systematic review (2023) · cites this paper as Klahr, 2004
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“The work of Klahr and Nigam (2004), discussed earlier, unambiguously demonstrated the advantages of direct instruction in science.”
From Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching (2006) · cites this paper as Klahr & Nigam, 2004
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Direct instruction involving considerable guidance, including examples, resulted in vastly more learning than discovery.”
From Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching (2006) · cites this paper as Klahr & Nigam, 2004
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Those relatively few students who learned via discovery showed no signs of superior quality of learning.”
From Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching (2006) · cites this paper as Klahr & Nigam, 2004
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“The Wrst type involves a focus on promoting strategic skills, such as CVS (e.g., Klahr & Nigam, 2004), and the other type is intended to foster meta-strategic understanding – that is, the goal is to foster an awareness of the appropriateness a particular strategy.”
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“But a more directly instructional approach has been shown to trump free play and exploration for some learning outcomes, such as 108 Volume 7—Number 2 science learning in older children (e.g., Chen & Klahr, 1999; Klahr & Nigam, 2004; Klahr, Zimmerman, & Jirout, 2011; Lorch et al., 2010).”
BackgroundSchwartz, D. L., Chase, C. C., Oppezzo, M., & Chin, D. B. (2011) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0025140 · Cited by 466
“For example, Klahr and Nigam (2004) found an advantage for explicit instruction over unsupported discovery for the control-of-variable procedure.”
BackgroundProductive Failure in Learning Math
Kapur, M. (2014) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/cogs.12107 · Cited by 453
Blanchard, M. R., Southerland, S. A., Osborne, J. W., Sampson, V. D., Annetta, L. A., & Granger, E. M. (2010) · Science Education · doi:10.1002/sce.20390 · Cited by 426
Do Conscious Thoughts Cause Behavior?
Baumeister, R. F., Masicampo, E. J., & Vohs, K. D. (2010) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.131126 · Cited by 411
“A well-designed experiment by Klahr & Nigam (2004) found, however, that direct, explicit instruction by teachers produced much better learning, including a generalization exercise after a week’s delay, than did discovery learning.”
Promoting Transfer: Effects of Self-Explanation and Direct Instruction
Rittle‐Johnson, B. (2006) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00852.x · Cited by 423
Weisberg, D. S., Hirsh‐Pasek, K., Golinkoff, R. M., Kittredge, A. K., & Klahr, D. (2016) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0963721416645512 · Cited by 516
“Klahr and Nigam (2004) directly tested this hypothesis with a group of third and fourth graders as they learned to design simple experiments in a science lesson.”
BackgroundSelf-citationTranslating the ICAP Theory of Cognitive Engagement Into Practice
Michelene, T. H., Adams, J., Bogusch, E. B., Bruchok, C., Kang, S., Lancaster, M. E., Levy, R., Li, N., McEldoon, K. L., Stump, G., et al. (2018) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/cogs.12626 · Cited by 433
Schmidt, H. G., van der Molen, H. T., Winkel, W. T., & Wijnen, W. (2009) · Educational Psychologist · doi:10.1080/00461520903213592 · Cited by 383
“Others maintain that PBL is a form of minimally guided instruction and is therefore less effective and less efficient than approaches that place a stronger emphasis on direct instruction of students ( Kirschner, Sweller, & Clark, 2006 ; Klahr & Nigam, 2004 ).”
BackgroundKlahr, D., Triona, L. M., & Williams, C. (2006) · Journal of Research in Science Teaching · doi:10.1002/tea.20152 · Cited by 358
“For example , Cells A and B were compared in a series of investigations by Klahr and colleagues ( Chen & Klahr , 1999 ; Klahr & Nigam , 2004 ; Toth , Klahr , & Chen , 2000 ) using physical hands - on materials ( physical ramps , springs , and sinking objects ) .”
MethodSelf-citationWilson, C. D., Taylor, J. A., Kowalski, S. M., & Carlson, J. (2009) · Journal of Research in Science Teaching · doi:10.1002/tea.20329 · Cited by 356
Where science starts: Spontaneous experiments in preschoolers’ exploratory play
Cook, C., Goodman, N. D., & Schulz, L. (2011) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2011.03.003 · Cited by 347
“…experimental design, difficulty designing controlled interventions, and difficulty anticipating the type of evidence that would support or undermine causal hypotheses (Inhelder & Piaget, 1958; Klahr & Nigam, 2004; Kuhn, 1989; Kuhn, Amsel, & O’Laughlin, 1988; Koslowski, 1996; Masnick & Klahr, 2003).”
Direct instruction vs. discovery: The long view
Dean Jr., D., & Kuhn, D. (2007) · Science Education · doi:10.1002/sce.20194 · Cited by 325
Stull, A. T., & Mayer, R. E. (2007) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-0663.99.4.808 · Cited by 295
“Activity theory is based on the idea that deep learning occurs when students are encouraged to engage in productive learning activities (de Jong, 2005; Kirschner, Sweller, & Clark, 2006; Klahr & Nigam, 2004; Lillard, 2005; Mayer, 2003, 2004).”
BackgroundGureckis, T. M., & Markant, D. B. (2012) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691612454304 · Cited by 330
The Psychology of Academic Achievement
Winne, P. H., & Nesbit, J. C. (2009) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100348 · Cited by 320
“However, when Klahr & Nigam (2004) randomly assigned elementary students to learn CVS by discovery or direct instruction, many more succeeded in the direct-instruction condition.”
BackgroundA rational account of pedagogical reasoning: Teaching by, and learning from, examples
Shafto, P., Goodman, N. D., & Griffiths, T. L. (2014) · Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.cogpsych.2013.12.004 · Cited by 266
Wittwer, J., & Renkl, A. (2008) · Educational Psychologist · doi:10.1080/00461520701756420 · Cited by 277
“…with learners’ cognitive activities in fruitful ways to enhance learning is in line with recent empirical findings which show that instructional support is indeed an important ingredient in constructivist learning environments (e.g., Hardy, Jonen, Möller, & Stern, 2006; Klahr & Nigam, 2004).”
ResultHospel, V., & Galand, B. (2016) · Learning and Instruction · doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2015.09.001 · Cited by 275
Blikstein, P. (2013) · International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge (LAK) · doi:10.1145/2460296.2460316 · Cited by 275
Children balance theories and evidence in exploration, explanation, and learning
Bonawitz, E. B., van Schijndel, T. J. P., Friel, D., & Schulz, L. (2012) · Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.cogpsych.2011.12.002 · Cited by 262
Blikstein, P., Worsley, M. B., Piech, C., Sahami, M., Cooper, S., & Koller, D. (2014) · Journal of the Learning Sciences · doi:10.1080/10508406.2014.954750 · Cited by 266
“Although this vision has captured the hearts and minds of educators since the turn of the 20th century, its need and feasibility has come under attack several times during the past decade (e.g., Kirschner, Sweller, & Clark, 2006; Klahr & Nigam, 2004).”
BackgroundDifferentiated Overt Learning Activities for Effective Instruction in Engineering Classrooms
Menekşe, M., Stump, G. S., Krause, S., & Chi, M. T. H. (2013) · Journal of Engineering Education · doi:10.1002/jee.20021 · Cited by 274
“…et al., 2007; Smith, Sheppard, Johnson, & Johnson, 2005), other studies found either the opposite effect (e.g., Kirschner, Sweller, & Clark, 2006; Klahr & Nigam, 2004; Mayer, 2004; Montpas, 2004) or that active is not always better than passive (e.g., Colliver, 2000; Hundley, 2007, Martin, 2009;…”
MethodExplicit Instruction: Historical and Contemporary Contexts
Hughes, C. A., Morris, J. R., Therrien, W. J., & Benson, S. K. (2017) · Learning Disabilities Research & Practice · doi:10.1111/ldrp.12142 · Cited by 266
“…example, continuing to compare the effectiveness of explicit instruction with constructivist approaches such as discovery and inquiry learning (e.g., Klahr & Nigam, 2004; Kroesbergen, Van Luit, & Maas, 2004) to ascertain if explicit instruction can be used in lieu of, or in concert with, these…”
BackgroundRönnebeck, S., Bernholt, S., & Ropohl, M. (2016) · Studies in Science Education · doi:10.1080/03057267.2016.1206351 · Cited by 308
Berthold, K., Eysink, T. H. S., & Renkl, A. (2009) · Instructional Science · doi:10.1007/s11251-008-9051-z · Cited by 238
“Kirschner et al. (2006) and Klahr and Nigam (2004) advocate to provide the learners with more assistance relative to more open approaches (see Anderson et al. 1998).”
BackgroundFlexibility in problem solving: The case of equation solving
Star, J. R., & Rittle‐Johnson, B. (2007) · Learning and Instruction · doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2007.09.018 · Cited by 231
“On the other hand, there is a large literature that suggests that direct instruction is more conducive toward learning than discovery (e.g., Chen & Klahr, 1999; Klahr & Nigam, 2004; Rittle-Johnson, 2006; Zhu & Simon, 1987).”
BackgroundMethodPyatt, K., & Sims, R. (2011) · Journal of Science Education and Technology · doi:10.1007/s10956-011-9291-6 · Cited by 239
“For instance, inquiry-based learning can be difficult to implement (de Jong and van Joolingen 1998), and may not always yield positive learning gains (Klahr and Nigam 2004).”
BackgroundIs Developing Scientific Thinking All About Learning to Control Variables?
Kuhn, D., & Dean, D. A. (2005) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01628.x · Cited by 229
Productive failure in learning the concept of variance
Kapur, M. (2012) · Instructional Science · doi:10.1007/s11251-012-9209-6 · Cited by 253
“…and DI, and in doing so, contribute to the ongoing debate comparing the effectiveness of DI with discovery learning approaches (e.g., Tobias and Duffy 2010); proponents of DI continue to epitomize discovery learning as the constructivist ideal (e.g., Kirschner et al. 2006; Klahr and Nigam 2004).”
BackgroundInfluentialCarlone, H. B., Haun‐Frank, J., & Webb, A. W. (2011) · Journal of Research in Science Teaching · doi:10.1002/tea.20413 · Cited by 249
Sobel, D. M., & Kushnir, T. (2013) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/a0034191 · Cited by 225
Jaakkola, T., Nurmi, S., & Veermans, K. (2010) · Journal of Research in Science Teaching · doi:10.1002/tea.20386 · Cited by 225
Beyond control of variables: What needs to develop to achieve skilled scientific thinking?
Kuhn, D., Iordanou, K., Dreibelbis, M. A. P., & Wirkala, C. (2008) · Cognitive Development · doi:10.1016/j.cogdev.2008.09.006 · Cited by 224
What is Scientific Thinking and How Does It Develop?
Kuhn, D. (2002) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9780470996652.ch17 · Cited by 225
Literature review: the role of the teacher in inquiry-based education
Dobber, M., Zwart, R., Tanis, M., & van Oers, B. (2017) · Educational Research Review · doi:10.1016/j.edurev.2017.09.002 · Cited by 222
Is Direct Instruction an Answer to the Right Question?
Kuhn, D. (2007) · Educational Psychologist · doi:10.1080/00461520701263376 · Cited by 217
‘Grasp of Practice’ as a Reasoning Resource for Inquiry and Nature of Science Understanding
Ford, M. (2006) · Science & Education · doi:10.1007/s11191-006-9045-7 · Cited by 220
Gobert, J. D., Sao Pedro, M., Raziuddin, J., & Baker, R. S. (2013) · Journal of the Learning Sciences · doi:10.1080/10508406.2013.837391 · Cited by 210
“This is an advance over other assessments of the CVS, which counts trials as evidence of this skill if and only if the trials are collected sequentially (Chen & Klahr, 1999; Klahr & Nigam, 2004; McElhaney & Linn, 2008, 2010).”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialCairns, D., & Areepattamannil, S. (2017) · Research in Science Education · doi:10.1007/s11165-017-9639-x · Cited by 248
Student Motivation from and Resistance to Active Learning Rooted in Essential Science Practices
Owens, D., Sadler, T. D., Barlow, A. T., & Smith-Walters, C. (2017) · Research in Science Education · doi:10.1007/s11165-017-9688-1 · Cited by 235
The problem with answers: An exploration of guided scientific inquiry teaching
Furtak, E. M. (2006) · Science Education · doi:10.1002/sce.20130 · Cited by 202
What Needs to Develop in the Development of Inquiry Skills?
Kuhn, D., & Dreibelbis, M. A. P. (2008) · Cognition and Instruction · doi:10.1080/07370000802391745 · Cited by 198
“At one extreme, the inquiry process is regarded narrowly as a control-of-variables strategy that can be taught to students in a single brief session ( Klahr & Nigam, 2004 ); at the other, it is an activity so complex and evolving with practice as to defy simple characterization ( Lehrer & Schauble, 2006 ), with many o…”
BackgroundPlayful Learning and Montessori Education.
Lillard, A. S. (2013) · American journal of play · Cited by 207
Motivation and Transfer: The Role of Mastery-Approach Goals in Preparation for Future Learning
Belenky, D. M., & Nokes-Malach, T. J. (2012) · Journal of the Learning Sciences · doi:10.1080/10508406.2011.651232 · Cited by 195
Issues in computer supported inquiry learning in science
van Joolingen, W., de Jong, T., & Dimitrakopoulou, A. (2007) · Journal of Computer Assisted Learning · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2729.2006.00216.x · Cited by 190
“…given studies in which ‘free’ exploration, that is offering computer simulations without any support, has been shown not to benefit learners (Klahr & Nigam 2004; Mayer 2004), whereas supported discovery learning with simulations has been shown to be an effective mode of learning (White &…”
BackgroundExploring the Intersection of Science Education and 21st Century Skills: A Workshop Summary
Hilton, M. L. (2010) · Cited by 188
Lilienfeld, S. O., Ammirati, R. J., & David, M. (2011) · Journal of School Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jsp.2011.09.006 · Cited by 212
“Yet most research suggests that although discovery learning approaches often have some role to play as adjunctive educational techniques, they are generally less effective in promoting learning of scientific and mathematical principles than are direct instruction approaches (Klahr & Nigam, 2004).”
BackgroundSavelsbergh, E. R., Prins, G. T., Rietbergen, C., Fechner, S., Vaessen, B. E., Draijer, J., & Bakker, A. (2016) · Educational Research Review · doi:10.1016/j.edurev.2016.07.003 · Cited by 230
“Moreover, critics have been concerned that such interest-oriented approaches will go at the cost of achievement outcomes (e.g., Kaminski, Sloutsky, & Heckler, 2008; Kirschner, Sweller, & Clark, 2006; Klahr & Nigam, 2004).”
Let's talk evidence – The case for combining inquiry-based and direct instruction
de Jong, T., Lazonder, A. W., Chinn, C. A., Fischer, F., Gobert, J. D., Hmelo‐Silver, C. E., Koedinger, K. R., Krajcik, J. S., Kyza, E. Α., Linn, M. C., et al. (2023) · Educational Research Review · doi:10.1016/j.edurev.2023.100536 · Cited by 261
Drawing as a generative activity and drawing as a prognostic activity.
Schwamborn, A., Mayer, R. E., Thillmann, H., Leopold, C., & Leutner, D. (2010) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0019640 · Cited by 173
Explicit teaching of meta-strategic knowledge in authentic classroom situations
Zohar, A. E., & David, A. B. (2008) · Metacognition and Learning · doi:10.1007/s11409-007-9019-4 · Cited by 189
“Therefore, the present study addresses similar issues to the ones addressed by Klahr and Nigam (2004) and by Dean and Kuhn (2007) adding a new aspect to their ongoing discussion because according to our findings the effects of explicit teaching did indeed foster a long-term and transferable effect.”
BackgroundResultInfluentialScientific Thinking and Reasoning
Dunbar, K. N., & Klahr, D. (2012) · The Oxford Handbook of Thinking and Reasoning · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199734689.013.0035 · Cited by 173
Self-citationA review of the types of mobile activities in mobile inquiry-based learning
Suárez, Á., Specht, M. M., Prinsen, F., Kalz, M., & Ternier, S. (2017) · Computers & Education · doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2017.11.004 · Cited by 187
Exploring mathematics problems prepares children to learn from instruction
DeCaro, M. S., & Rittle‐Johnson, B. (2012) · Journal of Experimental Child Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2012.06.009 · Cited by 189
Exploration, Explanation, and Parent–Child Interaction in Museums
Callanan, M. A., Legare, C. H., Sobel, D. M., Jaeger, G., Letourneau, S. M., McHugh, S. R., Willard, A. K., Brinkman, A. H., Finiasz, Z., Rubio, É., et al. (2020) · Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development · doi:10.1111/mono.12412 · Cited by 182
The worked example effect, the generation effect, and element interactivity.
Chen, O., Kalyuga, S., & Sweller, J. (2015) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/edu0000018 · Cited by 167
Illusions of causality: how they bias our everyday thinking and how they could be reduced
Matute, H., Blanco, F., Yarritu, I., Díaz‐Lago, M., Vadillo, M. A., & Barberia, I. (2015) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00888 · Cited by 183
“There has been a long debate in scientific education on whether students learn better through personal discovery or through more traditional instruction, but recent reports are showing that to learn about scientific methods, direct instruction is preferred (e.g., Klahr and Nigam, 2004).”
BackgroundIs it better to select or to receive? Learning via active and passive hypothesis testing.
Markant, D. B., & Gureckis, T. M. (2013) · Journal of Experimental Psychology General · doi:10.1037/a0032108 · Cited by 157
Teaching the control-of-variables strategy: A meta-analysis
Schwichow, M., Croker, S. J., Zimmerman, C., Höffler, T. N., & Härtig, H. (2015) · Developmental Review · doi:10.1016/j.dr.2015.12.001 · Cited by 164
“…questions include, for example, whether particular types of instruction are more effective (Chen & Klahr, 1999; Dean & Kuhn, 2007; Klahr, 2005; Klahr & Nigam, 2004; Kuhn, 2005b; Kuhn & Dean, 2005), and whether hands-on activities and virtual training tasks are equally effective in teaching…”
BackgroundResultInfluentialScientific Thinking and Science Literacy
Lehrer, R., & Schauble, L. (2007) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9780470147658.chpsy0405 · Cited by 170
The effects of explicit teaching of metastrategic knowledge on low- and high-achieving students
Zohar, A. E., & Peled, B. (2008) · Learning and Instruction · doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2007.07.001 · Cited by 164
The Second Decade: What Develops (and How)
Kuhn, D., & Franklin, S. (2007) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9780470147658.chpsy0222 · Cited by 160
What is Scientific Thinking and How Does it Develop?
Kuhn, D. (2010) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781444325485.ch19 · Cited by 155
Loibl, K., & Rummel, N. (2013) · Instructional Science · doi:10.1007/s11251-013-9282-5 · Cited by 142
Nordine, J., Krajcik, J. S., & Fortus, D. (2010) · Science Education · doi:10.1002/sce.20423 · Cited by 141
“Furthermore, instructional interventions seem to play a key role in developing understandings in young children that many adults never acquire (Duschl et al., 2007; Klahr & Nigam, 2004; Linn, Lee, Tinker, Husic, & Chiu, 2006; Smith, Maclin, Houghton, & Hennessey, 2000; White & Frederiksen, 1998).”
BackgroundWhat Is Inquiry-Based Science Teaching and Learning?
Constantinou, C. P., Tsivitanidou, O., & Rybska, E. (2018) · Contributions from science education research · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-91406-0_1 · Cited by 236
Schwartz, D. L., Chase, C. C., & Bransford, J. D. (2012) · Educational Psychologist · doi:10.1080/00461520.2012.696317 · Cited by 146
“This differs from prior studies that have found an advantage for T&P instruction compared to unscaffolded exploration (Klahr & Nigam, 2004; Tuovinen & Sweller, 1999).”
BackgroundResultUnderstanding Students' Experiments—What kind of support do they need in inquiry tasks?
Arnold, J. C., Kremer, K., & Mayer, J. (2014) · International Journal of Science Education · doi:10.1080/09500693.2014.930209 · Cited by 167
“While some studies found positive effects of open inquiry or problembased learning (e.g. Dochy, Segers, Van den Bossche, & Gijbels, 2003; Roth & Roychoudhury, 1993; Sadeh & Zion, 2009), others found negative effects in comparison to direct instruction (e.g. Chen & Klahr, 1999; Klahr & Nigam, 2004).”
ResultMayer, D., Sodian, B., Koerber, S., & Schwippert, K. (2013) · Learning and Instruction · doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2013.07.005 · Cited by 135
Explain This, Explore That: A Study of Parent–Child Interaction in a Children's Museum
Willard, A. K., Busch, J. T. A., Cullum, K. A., Letourneau, S. M., Sobel, D. M., Callanan, M. A., & Legare, C. H. (2019) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/cdev.13232 · Cited by 152
“For example, Klahr and Nigam (2004) showed that, compared to self-directed exploratory learning, direct instruction (i.e., generating explanations) was more effective in helping fourth-graders learn about scientific methods and make broader scientific judgments.”
BackgroundStudent Learning: What Has Instruction Got to Do With It?
Lee, H. S., & Anderson, J. R. (2012) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143833 · Cited by 148
Instructional effects on critical thinking: Performance on ill-defined issues
Angeli, C., & Valanides, N. (2008) · Learning and Instruction · doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2008.06.010 · Cited by 143
Improving self-regulated learning with a retrieval practice intervention.
Ariel, R., & Karpicke, J. D. (2017) · Journal of Experimental Psychology Applied · doi:10.1037/xap0000133 · Cited by 146
The NISPI framework: Analysing collaborative problem-solving from students' physical interactions
Cukurova, M., Luckin, R., Millán, E., & Mavrikis, M. (2017) · Computers & Education · doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2017.08.007 · Cited by 130
“However, existing evidence on the effectiveness of these methods to satisfy their learning outcomes is rare (Klahr & Nigam, 2004), and they have been harshly criticised by some researchers as not being effective pedagogical approaches (Kirschner et al., 2006; Mayer, 2004).”
BackgroundOliver, M., McConney, A. A., & Woods‐McConney, A. (2019) · Research in Science Education · doi:10.1007/s11165-019-09901-0 · Cited by 165
“This finding is consistent with similar research reported by Klahr and Nigam (2004) almost 15 years ago.”
ResultEvaluating metacognitive scaffolding in Guided Invention Activities
Roll, I., Holmes, N. G., Day, J., & Bonn, D. A. (2012) · Instructional Science · doi:10.1007/s11251-012-9208-7 · Cited by 126
Beyond “formative”: assessments to enrich student learning
Kulasegaram, K. M., & Rangachari, P. K. (2018) · AJP Advances in Physiology Education · doi:10.1152/advan.00122.2017 · Cited by 158
Metadata
- Authors
- Klahr, D., & Nigam, M.
- Affiliations
- Carnegie Mellon University (US)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Venue
- Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2004-10
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 661-667
- ISSN
- 0956-7976 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-9280
- OpenAlex
- W2139559367
- Cited by
- 977
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 28 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 39 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 41 · 2021: 59 · 2020: 59 · 2019: 45 · 2018: 63 · 2017: 53 · 2016: 64 · 2015: 49 · 2014: 49 · 2013: 50 · 2012: 69
- FWCI
- 115.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Locations
- Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion)
- KiltHub Repository
- Funders
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD025211)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Science Education and Pedagogy
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Visual and Cognitive Learning Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods
- Keywords
- discovery learning, direct instruction, early childhood science education, elementary school students, experimental design, transfer of learning, scientific reasoning, learning trajectories, teaching effectiveness
- MeSH terms
- Achievement, Child, Female, Humans, Learning, Male, Science, Teaching
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