The Effects of Self-Explanation on Studying Examples and Solving Problems

Examples play a critical role in guiding the acquisition of cognitive skills. We have argued that students need to apply the knowledge gathered from studying examples to solve analogous problems for that knowledge to be effective. There is a tradeoff between the active nature of constructing solutions and the facilitating effect of guiding problem solving with a worked example. The present study examined the impact of self-explanations on the effectiveness of examples in guiding later problem solving. We found that within a learning environment which provided direct support for the self-explanation of worked examples, such study could be as effective as direct problem solving practice.