Examining the Efficacy of Worked Example and Contrasting Cases as Instructional Strategy for Authentic Problem-Solving (Poster 21)

• In Event: Friday Poster Session 9:35 am
  In Poster Session: Trends and Issues in Technology-Based Environments

Abstract

This study investigates the efficacy of worked example and contrasting cases as instructional strategies to help college students learn the practices useful for solving authentic problems in science and engineering domains. Online samples of US college students first tried to solve an interactive problem embedded in a physics simulation, then studied one of the following: the correct answer only, a worked example illustrating an expert solution to the problem, or a set of contrasting cases illustrating both effective and ineffective problem-solving strategies. Participants subsequently worked on a second instance of the problem. The findings revealed that only for students who studied the contrasting cases was there an improvement in solution quality in the post-task.

Authors

• Karen D. Wang, San José State University

• Carl Wieman, Stanford University