Do novices and advanced students benefit differently from worked examples and ITS?

Abstract

Prior research shows that novices learn more from examples than unsupported problem solving. Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) support problem solving in many ways, adaptive feedback being one of them. However, when students repeatedly request hints from ITSs, problem solving is eventually replaced with worked examples when students request solutions to the current step or the whole problem. We conducted a study to observe the difference in learning outcomes when novices and advanced students learn from examples or with an ITS. The study had three conditions: Examples Only (EO), Problems Only (PO) and Alternating Examples and Problems (AEP). After each example/problem, students received Self-Explanation (SE) prompts. The result shows that no vices learnt significantly more conceptual knowledge in the AEP compared to the PO condition. Moreover, novices in the AEP and PO conditions performed significantly better on SE prompts than students in the EO condition. Advanced students who learnt from examples only did not significantly improve in the study. Overall, the study suggests using AEP for novices and either AEP or PO for advanced students. The results clearly reveal that using examples alone is not an effective approach for novices and advanced students in comparison with ITSs.