Abstract
We examined if the benefits of generation for long-term learning depend on individual differences in performance expectancies (PEs) prior to learning. We predicted that a greater generative activity (problem-solving) compared to less generative activity (worked-examples) should be more effective for pupils with higher PEs, especially in the long run. As a comparison group for problem-solving, we implemented a special type of worked-examples that decreased engaging in self-explanations, because our main prediction focused on PEs moderating the long-term effectivity of less versus greater generative activities. We tested students’ immediate and delayed performance (after 3 months) using coherent curricular materials on linear functions in a sample of eighth graders (advanced school track). The results were partly in line with our predictions: Although we found no moderation of PE and generative activity, we obtained the predicted 3-way interaction of PE, generative activity, and time. Immediately, greater generative activity (problem-solving) was beneficial for pupils with higher PEs, while for pupils with lower PEs, problem-solving versus worked-examples did not differ. In the delayed test, this pattern reversed: for lower PEs, greater generative activity outperformed less generative activities, but there was no difference for higher PEs. Unexpectedly, the initial advantage of problem-solving for higher PEs could not be maintained, decreasing over three subsequent months, whereas the performance in the worked-example condition remained at a comparable level for higher PEs. The change in performance in the problem-solving condition for lower PEs was descriptively less pronounced than in the worked-example condition, but statistically not different. We further investigated the effects of problem-solving and worked-examples on changes in PEs after learning and after testing, hinting at gradual decrease in PEs and greater metacognitive accuracy in the problem-solving condition due to a reduction of overconfidence.
Highlights
The idea to trouble a learner by a difficult learning task may appear strange
Exercising with worked-examples should be superior to problemsolving with respect to an immediate performance, but inferior to problem-solving in a later performance test (H1; see Table 1 for descriptive statistics)
We found a main effect of time, F(1,59) = 9.34, p = 0.003, MD = −2.31, SE = 0.75, 95% CI [−3.81, −0.80], η2p = 0.14, which means that the overall performance worsened by about 2 points
Summary
The idea to trouble a learner by a difficult learning task may appear strange. Intuitively, wouldn’t one ease the learning task to match the learner’s achievement prediction in hope of raising said learner’s achievement prospects? Yet, a growing body of research on a phenomenon dubbed “desirable difficulties” (e.g., Bjork, 1994; Bjork and Bjork, 2011) supports such a seemingly. Experiencing difficulties while learning with problem-solving may challenges learner’s competence illusion, which may stimulate learners to engage in deeper and (cognitive) more effortful information processing (e.g., McNamara et al, 1996; Diemand-Yauman et al, 2011); and increase metacognitive accuracy in terms of predicted performance and actual performance (Baars et al, 2014); as well as, increase regulation accuracy in terms of selecting the right materials for restudy (Baars et al, 2016). Calibration accuracy (a smaller difference between expected performance and actual performance) should be more precise for problem-solvers in contrast to worked-examples: If learners in the problem-solving condition decrease their PEs after the learning task, their PEs should be more accurate with respect to the later test outcome. We tested these hypotheses by measuring PEs after learning, after the immediate performance test, and prior to the delayed performance test
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