Computer-Based Examples Designed to Encourage Optimal Example Processing: A Study Examining the Impact of Sequentially Presented, Subgoal-Oriented Worked Examples 1

This study was designed to examine the effectiveness of a specific type of computer-based worked example, one designed to encourage students to study the example in an optimal fashion by: (1) incorporating visually isolated and labeled subgoals, a structural manipulation that appears to enhance the way in which students study examples; as well as (2) presenting problem states sequentially, a manipulation that appears to have the potential to accomplish the same goal. The study also examined the effects of having examples present or absent during practice problem solving. Findings indicated that sequentially-presented examples with clearly isolated subgoals produce better conceptual performance than do examples in which solutions are presented all at once without strong subgoal emphasis. It is still unclear whether examples should be present or withdrawn during practice problem solving.