Running head: WHY MINIMALLY GUIDED INSTRUCTION DOES NOT WORK Why Minimal Guidance during Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching

Evidence for the superiority of guided instruction is explained in the context of our knowledge of human cognitive architecture, expert–novice differences, and cognitive load. Although unguided or minimally guided instructional approaches are very popular and intuitively appealing, the point is made that these approaches ignore both the structures that constitute human cognitive architecture and evidence from empirical studies over the past half-century that consistently indicate that minimally guided instruction is less effective and less efficient than instructional approaches that place a strong emphasis on guidance of the student learning process. The advantage of guidance begins to recede only when learners have sufficiently high prior knowledge to provide "internal" guidance. Recent developments in instructional research and instructional design models that support guidance during instruction are briefly described.

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Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching

Emotion and Adaptation

A wide variety of media can be used in learning, including distance learning, such as print, lectures, conference sections, tutors, pictures, video, sound, and computers. Any one instance of distance learning will make choices among these media, perhaps using several.

Multimedia in Learning

This article reviews the corpus of research on feedback, with a focus on formative feedback—defined as information communicated to the learner that is intended to modify his or her thinking or behavior to improve learning According to researchers, formative feedback should be nonevaluative, supportive, timely, and specific Formative feedback is usually presented as information to a learner in response to some action on the learner’s part It comes in a variety of types (eg, verification of response accuracy, explanation of the correct answer, hints, worked examples) and can be administered at various times during the learning process (eg, immediately following an answer, after some time has elapsed) Finally, several variables have been shown to interact with formative feedback’s success at promoting learning (eg, individual characteristics of the learner and aspects of the task) All of these issues are discussed This review concludes with guidelines for generating formative feedback

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Focus on Formative Feedback

Learning with self-explaining examples is an effective method in well-structured domains. We analyzed this method in teaching the complex skill of argumentation. In an experiment we compared three conditions (n = 47 students of educational sciences) that differed with respect to whether and how the processing of the examples was supported by different help functions. The analysis of the video-based examples was either supported by additional examples displaying the equivalent argumentative structure or by Conceptmaps visualizing the argumentative structure. The control group received no help. We found that examples of argumentation could be successfully employed in order to teach skills of argumentation. Covariance Analysis revealed no main effect of help design on learning outcome. However there was a significant effect of learners' help seeking activities. Learners who used the help facilities more often showed significant higher learning outcomes. Principal based help facilities (concept maps) thereby were most accepted by the learners.

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Help design in a computer-based learning environment teaching argumentation skills through the use of double-content-examples

Multiple Ziele in Unterricht und Lernumgebungen: Einführung in den Thementeil

The interrelation between cognitive and motivational aspects in complex learning using a computer-based business simulation was investigated empirically. The influence of the learning context (uniform versus multiple contexts) and the support provided (guided problem solving versus non-guided problem solving) on action competence, subjective learning outcome and acceptance of the learning environment was studied in a group of 60 economic students from a vocational school using a 22 factorial design. In the entire sample, the aspects of action competence drawn on were shown to be clearly dissociated, whereas the motivational aspects were more convergent. From an instructional perspective, however, a conflict of aims occured neither in the cognitive nor motivational areas, as in each case one learning condition proved especially favourable. From a cognitive viewpoint, multiple learning contexts with additional support were indicated. The unfavourable influence on the subjective learning outcome which thus occured suggests a competent integration of the simulation game into the instruction, whereby a reduction of unsuccessful experiences through the use of targeted feedback and suitable disposition of the learning environment must be taken into account. As the acceptance of the learning environment in multiple learning contexts using additional support is high, it is the cognitive and motivational factors which argue for the appliance of this learning condition.

Dissoziation und Konvergenz instruktionaler Effekte beim komplexen Lernen

Training focused processing of explanations: How can transfer across domains be fostered?

Zusammenfassung Obwohl in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten wiederholt ein Theoriedefizit zu Fragen des Lernens und der Lernförderung konstatiert und zur Entwicklung einer fundierten theoretischen Basis aufgerufen wurde, besteht dieses Problem weiterhin. Wichtige Aspekte dieses Defizits (z. B. lediglich viele erklärungsmächtige Mini-Theorien oder aber grobe Rahmentheorien) und mögliche Ursachen dafür (z. B. Vernachlässigung von Theoriebildung als Ausbildungsinhalt) werden diskutiert. Es wird darauf eingegangen, dass Versprechen, die in den letzten Jahrzehnten mit neuen bzw. in Mode gekommenen übergreifenden theoretischen Perspektiven verbunden waren (neurowissenschaftliche Perspektive, situierte Perspektive, konstruktivistische Perspektive), nicht eingelöst werden konnten. Auch aktuelle Strömungen (z. B. Open Science), so wichtig sie für eine gute empirische Praxis sein mögen, zielen nicht prioritär darauf ab, die Theorieentwicklung zu fördern. Für die Zukunft wünschenswert wären (a) allgemein ein stärkerer Fokus auf Theorieentwicklung, (b) die Entwicklung integrativer Theorien und (c) die profunde theoretische Konzeptualisierung grundlegender, aber bislang weitgehend offener Fragen (z. B. zum Wechselspiel zwischen Lehr- bzw. Instruktionsdesign-Angeboten einerseits und den partiell immer selbstregulierten individuellen Lernprozessen andererseits). 

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Lernprozesse und deren Förderung theoretisch verstehen: Von kleinen Fortschritten, von gegenwärtig priorisierten, aber nicht ausreichenden Abhilfen und von einem Wunschzettel

Alexander Renkl

Papers

Help design in a computer-based learning environment teaching argumentation skills through the use of double-content-examples

Multiple Ziele in Unterricht und Lernumgebungen: Einführung in den Thementeil

Dissoziation und Konvergenz instruktionaler Effekte beim komplexen Lernen

Training focused processing of explanations: How can transfer across domains be fostered?

Lernprozesse und deren Förderung theoretisch verstehen: Von kleinen Fortschritten, von gegenwärtig priorisierten, aber nicht ausreichenden Abhilfen und von einem Wunschzettel