Novices learn more from studying fully worked solutions than from attempting equivalent problems unaided.
A robust result within cognitive load theory: the novice attempting a problem spends capacity searching rather than learning the structure, while the worked example makes the structure visible. It reverses with expertise, which is the expertise reversal effect.
In practice
- A class given six solved examples outperforms the class given six problems and the same time.
- An apprentice shown the finished joint and how it was cut learns faster than one told to work it out.
- Standing
- Set against productive failure, which claims that struggling first works better for conceptual understanding.
- Subject
- Learning & Education
- Essay
- What works in learning, and what schools can and cannot change