A Comparison of Cognitive Load Associated with Discovery Learning and Worked Examples By Juhani E. Tuovinen and John S

1. �A Comparison of Cognitive Load Associated with Discovery Learning and Worked Examples�By Juhani E. Tuovinen and John Sweller Courtney Jenkins, Deni Mucciacito, Emily Selleck

2. Definition of Terms Discovery Learning The students must be active, they must work on their own to discover basic principles rather than accept teacher�s explanations Exploration Learning Synonym for discovery learning Pure Discovery Involves almost no structure or guidance

3. More Definitions� Cognitive Load Theory Derives instructional design principles from aspects of our cognitive architecture Different learners will process the material in different ways Schema Basic structure for organizing information; concepts Worked-examples Gives student a visual example of the correct problem solving method

4. Purpose To report the experimental work in the context of current cognitive theory to assess some aspects of discovery or exploration learning To see what type of learning is the most efficient

5. Methodology Experimental study of students learning to use a database Divided 32 graduate students randomly into two groups Exploration group Worked-examples group Students indicated whether they had sometimes or seldom used the database program Both groups given instructions with different examples how to work program Experiment broken up into three phases 1st instructional and acquisition phase 2nd instructional and acquisition phase Test phase

6. More Methodology� 1st Instructional and Acquisition Phase Exploration group was provided with printed instructions to explore the construction and use of fields previously read about during a calculation fields lesson Worked-examples group was directed to work through the problems provided by the printed practice instructions

7. Still More Methodology� 2nd Instructional and Acquisition Phase Both groups were given the same information but had different instructions for practice Only worked-examples group was given practice tasks

8. Oh wait, there�s more� Test phase Consisted of three 20-minute stages Each stage tested the lessons taught on the databases

9. Findings Combining worked-examples and problem solving produced better learning for students completely unfamiliar with the database program Only students with some previous experience in the exploration group exhibited equal achievement as the worked-examples group

10. Conclusions Providing students with more rather than less structure is beneficial This conclusion applies only to students with very little knowledge of a subject area For students with previous knowledge, structure can be less beneficial

11. Conclusions In the classroom, when teaching a new lesson it is important to provide guided structure However, if you are building on previous knowledge it is important to let students explore by using hands-on activities

12. Reflections Article was poorly structured and explained It gave us the whole experiment and then later gave us additional information which should have been provided in the beginning Experiment was well conducted but poorly articulated

13. Reflections It was a credible source since it came from the Journal of Educational Psychology Recent experiment, conducted in 1999 Does conducting it in Australia change the data? Can same findings be used for younger age groups?

14. Questions ? ? ?

15. THE END Have a wonderful day!!