Novice learners

Audience

Novice learners

As it turns out, worked examples are not appropriate for all learners. Learners with prior knowledge of the subject find this form of instruction redundant, and may suffer the consequences of this redundancy. This has been described as the expertise reversal effect (Kalyuga, Ayres, Chandler, & Sweller, 2003). It is suggested that worked examples be faded over time to be replaced with problems for practice (Renkl, Atkinson & Maier, 2000). Thus it is important to consider the learner as well as the media while developing worked examples, else learners may not perform as expected.

Since worked-out examples include the steps toward reaching the solution, they can only be used in skill domains where algorithms can be applied (mathematics, physics, programming, etc.)(Renkl, 2005). For creative pursuits such as interpreting poems, or learning contexts where there is an infinite number of potential confounding factors such as conflict resolution, effective leadership, or multicultural communication, solution steps are more difficult to describe and worked-out examples may not be the most effective instructional method. The worked-out example approach is considered one of the best multimedia principles of learning mathematics. Worked examples help to direct the learner's attention to what needs to be studied as well as developing literacy skills. They serve as a guide to prepare novice learners for effective problem solving after gaining an understanding of any concept under consideration. Renkl (2005) argues that learners have a very restricted understanding of the domain when they try to solve problems without any worked examples. Thus, learners gain deep understanding of a skill domain when they receive worked-out examples at the beginning of cognitive skill acquisition. The examples give learners a clue to the right steps to solving the problem.

A recent piece of research (Rourke, 2006) found that novice learners can still have difficulty understanding concepts if given examples with incomplete or somewhat inaccurate information (known as faded examples) prior to acquiring basic domain knowledge or literacy skills in the subject matter. This is based on how a novice or expert learner structures his or her learning schemas — knowing the appropriate procedure/approach to use in retrieving and interpreting the problem. On the other hand, worked-out examples may constitute cognitive load and cause redundancy for learners with prior knowledge (Kalyuga, Ayres, Chandler, & Sweller, 2003), in contrast with novice learners for whom worked-out examples rather serve as a compass that provides a direct guide to solving similar problems (Rourke, 2006). This also applies when novice learners evaluate prototypes, which embody the main characteristics of a work, worked examples. This can also assist the novice learner with the semantic processing needed to fully comprehend a work of art or design (Rourke, 2006).

The worked examples model is one of several strong cognitive-instruction techniques with great importance that help teachers foster learning. It is an application principle that significantly enhances novice learners' patterns of knowledge acquisition in the contexts of authentic problem solving. Reed & Bolstad (1991) indicate that one example may be insufficient for helping a student induce a usable idea and that the incorporation of a second example illustrating the idea, especially one that is more complex than the first, garners significant benefits for transfer performance. So, "at least add a second example" appears to be a basic rule for worked-examples instructional design. In addition, Spiro, Feltovich, Jacobson, & Coulson (1991) affirmed that providing a wide range of examples (and having students emulate examples) that illustrate multiple strategies and approaches to similar problems helps foster broad knowledge transfer and "cognitive flexibility".

The instructional model of example-based learning by Renkl and Atkinson (2007) suggests that students gain a deeper understanding of domain principles when they receive worked examples at the beginning of cognitive skill acqu

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