LEARNING FROM WORKED-OUT EXAMPLES - THE EFFECTS OF EXAMPLE VARIABILITY AND ELICITED SELF-EXPLANATIONS

It was investigated to what extent example variability and the elicita tion of sophisticated self-explanations foster the acquisition of tran sferable knowledge by learning from worked-out examples. In addition, it was asked whether the effects of these factors are moderated by the learners' levels of prior topic knowledge. To this end, we had 56 app rentices from a bank learn calculation of compound interest and real i nterest, They were randomly assigned to the four conditions of a 2 x 2 -factorial design (factor 1: uniform vs. multiple examples; factor 2: spontaneous vs. elicited self-explanations). The learning results were measured by a post-test comprising near-transfer problems and far-tra nsfer problems. It was found that the acquisition of transferable know ledge can be supported by eliciting self-explanations. In the case of near transfer, especially learners with low levels of prior topic know ledge profited from the elicitation procedure. On the whole, the findi ngs underline the ''causal'' relevance of the quality of self-explanat ions for knowledge acquisition by learning from worked-out examples. T he assumption that multiple examples foster transfer performance, at l east when sophisticated self-explanations are elicited, was not suppor ted. (C) 1998 Academic Press.