Worked examples, cognitive aptitudes and the self-explanation mechanism - A replication

Self-explaining is an engagement activity that supports learners' active use of instructional scaffolds such as worked examples. Self-explanation quality is assumed to mediate the worked example effect on learning outcomes. However, prior investigations have relied on analytical approaches limited in scope and quality or have yielded inconclusive results AIMS: We replicate a previous investigation that examines whether self-explanation quality mediates the worked example effect in a worked examples - problem-solving paradigm, while simultaneously considering key cognitive aptitudes (prior knowledge, working memory capacity (WMC), fluid intelligence, shifting ability) as moderating variables METHOD: We analysed self-explanations from 115 university students solving six ill-defined statistics problems with or without worked examples. Self-explanation quality was defined as using specific case information from problem descriptions to justify statistical claims and coded by trained raters RESULTS: Results showed a moderated mediation of the worked example effect via self-explanation quality for prior knowledge and WMC, with stronger indirect effects at lower aptitude levels. The indirect effect was not moderated by fluid intelligence. No self-explanation mediation emerged for shifting ability; shifting ability was confirmed as a moderator of the worked example effect, with stronger scaffold benefits at lower ability levels CONCLUSIONS: Whereas the original study found no evidence for self-explanation quality as a mediator, the replication, drawing on stronger methodology, provides evidence for such mediation. However, this mechanism is not universal. Rather, worked examples exert their benefits either directly or via self-explanation, contingent on learners' cognitive resources.