Abstract
When learners self-explain, they try to make sense of new information. Although research has shown that bodily actions and written notes are an important part of learning, previous analyses of self-explanations rarely take into account written and non-verbal data produced spontaneously. In this paper, the extent to which interpretations of self-explanations are influenced by the systematic consideration of such data is investigated. The video recordings of 33 undergraduate students, who learned with worked-out examples dealing with complex numbers, were categorized successively including three different data bases: (a) verbal data, (b) verbal and written data, and (c) verbal, written and non-verbal data. Results reveal that including written data (notes) and non-verbal data (gestures and actions) leads to a more accurate analysis of self-explanations than an analysis solely based on verbal data. This influence is even stronger for the categorization of self-explanations as adequate or inadequate.
Highlights
Imagine a learner considering a worked-out example that presents the solution of a task dealing with right-angled triangles
Subsections “Coding of Self-Explanations,” “Changes of the Coding Results With Different Data Bases,” and “Alteration of the Interpretation of a Self-Explanation” depict results concerning the first research question: in what way will the consideration of non-verbal utterances and written utterances alter or support the coding of self-explanations? Subsection “Adequate and Inadequate Self-Explanations” depicts results concerning the second research question: In what way will the consideration of non-verbal and written utterances alter or support the determination of self-explanations as adequate or inadequate?
More than two-thirds of all self-explanations (676 of 935) could be reconstructed solely based on verbal data, the consideration of gestures, actions and written products notably affected individual results distinctly: individual differences in self-explanations coded in the three procedures vary independently of the amount of selfexplanations and the resulting ranks
Summary
Imagine a learner considering a worked-out example that presents the solution of a task dealing with right-angled triangles. The given example includes the complete solution of that task without describing the theorems or principles that were used for the calculations depicted. While reading the worked-out example, the learner thinks aloud: “Ok, this triangle ABC,. When confronted with worked-out examples, texts or other instructional material, learners can learn in different ways with worked-out examples, e.g. superficially or thoroughly. The statement above illustrates an advantageous learning approach: The learner explains to herself the calculations in the material drawing on her (activated) prior knowledge of the Pythagorean Theorem, she is self-explaining
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