The expertise reversal effect concerning instructional explanations

The expertise reversal effect occurs when learner’s expertise moderates design principles derived from cognitive load theory. Although this effect is supported by numerous empirical studies, indicating an overall large effect size, the effect was never tested by inducing expertise experimentally and using instructional explanations in a computer-based environment. The present experiment used an illustrated introductory text and a computer program about statistical data analyses with 93 students. Retention and transfer tests were employed as dependent measures. Each learner was randomly assigned to one condition of a 2 × 2 between subjects factorial design with the two factors expertise (novices vs. ‘experts’) and explanations (with vs. without). Expertise was induced by adding expository examples and illustrations to the introductory text to enhance text coherence and facilitate text comprehension. The expertise reversal effect was replicated for the dependent measure transfer, but not for retention. Results and implications for adaptive learning environments are discussed.

[1]  Wim Van Den Noortgate,et al.  Students’ misconceptions of statistical inference: A review of the empirical evidence from research on statistics education , 2007 .

[2]  Richard E. Mayer,et al.  Principles for managing essential processing in multimedia learning: Segmenting, pre-training, and modality principles. , 2005 .

[3]  John Sweller,et al.  Cognitive Load Theory: New Conceptualizations, Specifications, and Integrated Research Perspectives , 2010 .

[4]  John Sweller,et al.  The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning: The Split-Attention Principle in Multimedia Learning , 2005 .

[5]  Slava Kalyuga,et al.  The Expertise Reversal Effect , 2003 .

[6]  Günter Daniel Rey,et al.  The expertise reversal effect: cognitive load and motivational explanations. , 2011, Journal of experimental psychology. Applied.

[7]  Fred Paas,et al.  Individual and group-based learning from complex cognitive tasks: Effects on retention and transfer efficiency , 2009, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[8]  B. Bloom,et al.  Evaluation to Improve Learning , 1981 .

[9]  Slava Kalyuga,et al.  When Less Is More in Cognitive Diagnosis : A Rapid Online Method for Diagnosing Learner Task-Specific Expertise , 2008 .

[10]  F. Paas,et al.  Interactivity in Video-based Models , 2007 .

[11]  Slava Kalyuga,et al.  Learner Experience and Efficiency of Instructional Guidance , 2001 .

[12]  Ira H. Bernstein,et al.  Personality Moderating Variables: A Warning about Statistical Artifact and a Comparison of Analytic Techniques , 1990 .

[13]  Richard E. Mayer,et al.  Multimedia Learning , 2001, Visible Learning Guide to Student Achievement.

[14]  Robert J. Crutcher,et al.  The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. , 1993 .

[15]  Slava Kalyuga.  Expertise Reversal Effect and Its Implications for Learner-Tailored Instruction , 2007 .

[16]  L. Humphreys,et al.  Pseudo-Orthogonal and Other Analysis of Variance Designs Involving Individual-Differences Variables. , 1974 .

[17]  Richard E. Mayer,et al.  The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning: Introduction to Multimedia Learning , 2005 .

[18]  S. Maxwell,et al.  Dichotomization, Partial Correlation, and Conditional Independence , 1996 .

[19]  Paul Chandler,et al.  Expertise reversal effect in using explanatory notes for readers of Shakespearean text , 2010 .

[20]  Alexander Renkl,et al.  The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning: The Worked-Out Examples Principle in Multimedia Learning , 2005 .

[21]  J. Sweller,et al.  Cognitive Load Theory and Complex Learning: Recent Developments and Future Directions , 2005 .

[22]  Jacob Cohen.  The Cost of Dichotomization , 1983 .

[23]  Slava Kalyuga,et al.  Knowledge Elaboration: A Cognitive Load Perspective , 2009 .

[24]  W. Schnotz,et al.  A Reconsideration of Cognitive Load Theory , 2007 .

[25]  Slava Kalyuga,et al.  Incorporating Learner Experience into the Design of Multimedia Instruction. , 2000 .

[26]  T. Jong,et al.  Supporting students' learning with multiple representations in a dynamic simulation-based learning environment , 2006 .

[27]  Richard Mayer,et al.  Multimedia Learning , 2001, Visible Learning Guide to Student Achievement.

[28]  P. Chandler,et al.  Why Some Material Is Difficult to Learn , 1994 .

[29]  J. Sweller.  Implications of Cognitive Load Theory for Multimedia Learning , 2005, The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning.

[30]  A. Renkl,et al.  How Effective are Instructional Explanations in Example-Based Learning? A Meta-Analytic Review , 2010 .

[31]  John E. Hunter,et al.  Dichotomization of continuous variables: the implications for meta-analysis , 1990 .

[32]  Zehra Ozcinar,et al.  The topic of instructional design in research journals: A citation analysis for the years 1980-2008 , 2009 .

[33]  John Sweller,et al.  Interactions between the isolated–interactive elements effect and levels of learner expertise: experimental evidence from an accountancy class , 2010 .

[34]  John Sweller,et al.  Cognitive Load Theory , 2020, Encyclopedia of Education and Information Technologies.

[35]  Richard E. Mayer,et al.  Multimedia Learning: INTRODUCTION TO MULTIMEDIA LEARNING , 2009 .

[36]  Günter Daniel Rey.  Interactive elements for dynamically linked multiple representations in computer simulations , 2011 .

[37]  Marold Wosnitza.  Contemporary Motivation Research: From Global to Local Perspectives , 2009 .

[38]  Vincent Aleven,et al.  The expertise reversal effect and worked examples in tutored problem solving , 2010 .

[39]  Béatrice S. Hasler,et al.  Learner Control, Cognitive Load and Instructional Animation , 2007 .

[40]  Slava Kalyuga,et al.  Expertise reversal effect and its instructional implications: introduction to the special issue , 2010 .

[41]  Alexander Renkl,et al.  Expertise reversal effects in writing-to-learn , 2010 .

[42]  Paul Chandler,et al.  Levels of Expertise and Instructional Design , 1998, Hum. Factors.

[43]  Liesbeth Kester,et al.  Learner-controlled selection of tasks with different surface and structural features: Effects on transfer and efficiency , 2011, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[44]  S. Tobias.  The expertise reversal effect and aptitude treatment interaction research (Commentary) , 2010 .

[45]  Jörg Wittwer,et al.  Why Instructional Explanations Often Do Not Work: A Framework for Understanding the Effectiveness of Instructional Explanations , 2008 .

[46]  Dani Ben-Zvi,et al.  How Students Learn Statistics Revisited: A Current Review of Research on Teaching and Learning Statistics , 2007 .

[47]  Kristopher J Preacher,et al.  On the practice of dichotomization of quantitative variables. , 2002, Psychological methods.

[48]  J. Sweller.  Element Interactivity and Intrinsic, Extraneous, and Germane Cognitive Load , 2010 .

[49]  R. Mayer,et al.  Role of guidance, reflection, and interactivity in an agent-based multimedia game , 2005 .

[50]  P. Chandler,et al.  Cognitive Load Theory and the Format of Instruction , 1991 .

[51]  L. R. Peterson,et al.  Short-term retention of individual verbal items. , 1959, Journal of experimental psychology.

[52]  Benjamin S. Bloom,et al.  Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals. , 1957 .

[53]  F. Paas,et al.  A motivational perspective on the relation between mental effort and performance: Optimizing learner involvement in instruction , 2005 .

[54]  S. Maxwell,et al.  Bivariate median splits and spurious statistical significance. , 1993 .

[55]  P. Kirschner,et al.  Taking the Load Off a Learner's Mind: Instructional Design for Complex Learning , 2003 .

[56]  R. Mayer,et al.  Multimedia Learning: Frontmatter , 2001 .

[57]  B. Bloom.  Taxonomy of educational objectives , 1956 .

[58]  J. Sweller.  Instructional Design Consequences of an Analogy between Evolution by Natural Selection and Human Cognitive Architecture , 2004 .

[59]  M. Wittrock.  Handbook of research on teaching , 1986 .

[60]  J. Sweller,et al.  The Use of Worked Examples as a Substitute for Problem Solving in Learning Algebra , 1985 .

[61]  M. A. Sedney.  Comments on median split procedures for scoring androgyny measures , 1981 .

[62]  Richard E. Mayer,et al.  Principles for Managing Essential Processing in Multimedia Learning , 2020, Multimedia Learning.

[63]  F. Paas,et al.  Cognitive Architecture and Instructional Design , 1998 .

[64]  N. Cowan.  The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity , 2001, Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

[65]  K. Koedinger,et al.  Accounting for Beneficial Effects of Worked Examples in Tutored Problem Solving , 2010 .

[66]  Günter Daniel Rey.  Reading direction and signaling in a simple computer simulation , 2010, Comput. Hum. Behav..