ERIC Number: EJ737564
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Apr
Pages: 19
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0361-476X
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Just-in-Time Information Presentation: Improving Learning a Troubleshooting Skill
Kester, Liesbeth; Kirschner, Paul A.; van Merrienboer, Jeroen J. G.
Contemporary Educational Psychology, v31 n2 p167-185 Apr 2006
Troubleshooting in a practice situation requires two types of information, namely for reasoning about the problem-cause and for finding an adequate solution ("declarative information") and for manipulating the environment ("procedural information"). It is hypothesized that presenting this information piece-by-piece during practice (i.e., presentation of declarative and procedural information separately) frees up working memory and facilitates learning. Moreover, this effect is augmented when both information types are presented just-in-time (i.e., declarative information "before" practice and procedural information "during" practice). This should yield highest test performance and instructional efficiency, which is defined as higher test performance combined with lower mental effort during practice. Eighty-five students (49 male, 36 female; M = 15.2 years, SD = 0.59) participated in a 2 x 2 factorial experiment with the factors timing of declarative information and timing of procedural information, both "before" or "during" practice. Transfer test scores and transfer efficiency scores support the first hypothesis; the second hypothesis was not supported.
Descriptors: Troubleshooting, Problem Solving, Thinking Skills, Memory, Learning Processes, Tests, Hypothesis Testing, Time Factors (Learning), Teaching Methods
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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