e-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning

10.5. Promote Self-Explanations of Worked-Out Steps

Principle 1 stated that learning is better with a series of faded worked examples, compared to learning from a series of example-problem pairs. However, as we mentioned at the start of the chapter, if learners ignore the worked-out steps or give them only superficial attention, much of the potential of a worked example is lost. In our first edition, we recommended that you teach your learners how to self-explain. Based on recent research, we revise our recommendation, suggesting that you require your learners to self-explain worked-out steps by asking them meaningful questions about them.

Figure 10.5. Faded Examples Result in Better Learning Than Problem-Example Pairs.

10.5.1. What Are ...