e-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning

10.1. Worked Examples: Fuel for Learning

Worked examples are one of the most powerful methods you can use to build new cognitive skills, and they are popular with learners. Learners often bypass verbal descriptions in favor of examples. For example, learners in a LISP programming tutorial ignored verbal descriptions of LISP procedures in favor of worked examples (Anderson, Farrell, & Sauers, 1984). LeFevre and Dixon (1986) evaluated learners who were free to study either textual descriptions or worked examples to help them complete problem assignments. The information in the text was deliberately written to contradict the examples. By evaluating the learners' solutions, it was clear that the learners used the examples, not the text, as their ...