Can collaborative learning improve the effectiveness of worked examples in learning mathematics? / Endah Retnowati, Paul Ayres, John Sweller

Worked examples and collaborative learning have both been shown to facilitate learning. However, the testing of both strategies almost exclusively has been conducted independently of each other. The main aim of the current study was to examine interactions between these 2 strategies. Two experiments (N = 182 and N = 122) were conducted with Grade-7 Indonesian students, comparing learning to solve algebra problems, with higher and lower levels of complexity, collaboratively or individually. Results from both experiments indicated that individual learning was superior to collaborative learning when using worked examples. In contrast, in Experiment 2, when learning from problem solving using problem-solving search, collaboration was more effective than individual learning. However, again in Experiment 2, studying worked examples was overall superior to learning from solving problems, particularly for more complex problems. It can be concluded that while collaboration could be beneficial when learning under problem solving conditions, it may be counterproductive when studying worked examples.

Psychology