Learning from explaining: does it matter if mom is listening?

The goal of the current study was to examine whether explaining to another person improves learning and transfer. In the study, 4- and 5-year-olds (N=54) solved multiple classification problems, received accuracy feedback, and were prompted to explain the correct solutions to their moms, to explain the correct solutions to themselves, or to repeat the solutions. Generating explanations (to selves or moms) improved problem-solving accuracy at posttest, and explaining to mom led to the greatest problem-solving transfer. The study indicates that explanation prompts can facilitate transfer in children as young as 5 years and reveals that it matters if mom is listening.     

Learning by explaining: Impacts of explanations on the development of a competence

IntroductionPrevious research has mainly studied the impact of activity explanation on performances (e.g., Chi, 2009), but little research has been done to examine its impact on the development of a competence.ObjectiveA model of dynamic analysis of competence (Coulet, 2011) has been used to measure the impact of activity explanation on the development of a technical competence.MethodExplanation of tasks of varying complexity has been manipulated in two experimental studies; effects of activity explanation have been measured on objective performance, perceptions related to the task and final explanations.ResultsParticipants who explained their activity not only performed better on the tasks, but also showed more positive perceptions of their relations to the task and a better ability to produce didactic explanations.ConclusionPsychological processes involved in explaining activity and their implications are examined and discussed.     

In pursuit of knowledge: comparing self-explanations, concepts, and procedures as pedagogical tools

Explaining new ideas to oneself can promote learning and transfer, but questions remain about how to maximize the pedagogical value of self-explanations. This study investigated how type of instruction affected self-explanation quality and subsequent learning outcomes for second- through fifth-grade children learning to solve mathematical equivalence problems (e.g., 7 + 3 + 9 = 7 + _). Experiment 1 varied whether instruction was conceptual or procedural in nature (n = 40), and Experiment 2 varied whether children were prompted to self-explain after conceptual instruction (n = 48). Conceptual instruction led to higher quality explanations, greater conceptual knowledge, and similar procedural knowledge compared with procedural instruction. No effect was found for self-explanation prompts. Conceptual instruction can be more efficient than procedural instruction and may make self-explanation prompts unnecessary.     

样例的编码方式对问题解决迁移的影响及心理机制

以概率原理为材料,通过两个实验考察了样例的编码方式对问题解决迁移的影响及其心理机制。实验1探讨了样例的变异性与不同的自我解释模式结合对被试解决不同程度迁移问题的影响;实验2运用大声思维技术,进一步探讨不同样例的变异性和不同自我解释模式编码样例的条件下学习者的学习活动和问题解决的特点。结果表明:样例的变异性和诱发自我解释模式结合能有效地促进原理图式的获得和迁移;自我解释对理解原理和获得原理的概化图式有着重要作用。不同的学习者自我解释的特征并不一致,存在着个体差异。