In a series of five experiments, the effectiveness of using worked examples to teach grade 8 and 9 students the process of translating a written sentence into an algebraic equation, was examined from a cognitive load perspective. The first experiment compared the use of worked examples with a problemsolving strategy. Both for higher and lower levels of prior knowledge in mathematics, the worked examples format group performed significantly better than the problemsolving group. In experiment 2 the worked examples format was compared with an ??algorithm?? method for teaching students to write equations. No significant differences were found in performance on similar questions at either the higher or the lower levels of prior knowledge. However, for transfer questions and questions testing understanding, the performance of the worked examples format was significantly better than that of the algorithm format for the higher level of prior knowledge, though differences were not significant for the lower level. In experiment 3 worked examples using two different methods of checking the translation, the ??comparison?? method and the ??substitution?? method, were compared. No significant differences were found between the two methods for either knowledge group. In experiments 4 and 5 it was shown that grade 8 and 9 students were initially disadvantaged by the inclusion of a checking method. However, after a more substantial period of acquisition, for the students with a lower level of prior knowledge, those who received checking instructions performed significantly better than did those who did not receive such instructions. In contrast, higher knowledge students were continually disadvantaged by the inclusion of a checking method. Higher knowledge students receiving checking instructions experienced a significantly higher cognitive load than did those not receiving them, as shown by a measure of mental effort. The positive effect of checking for lower knowledge students and the negative effect for higher knowledge students in this domain is a further example of the expertise reversal effect. Evidence was found that the inclusion of checking instructions led to a redundancy effect for higher knowledge learners and caused retroactive inhibition for all learners.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/234358 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Pawley, Duncan Medway, Education, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, UNSW |
| Publisher | Awarded by:University of New South Wales. School of Education |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Duncan Medway Pawley, http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/copyright |
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