Prompted Self-explanation

Brief statement of principle

Many empirical studies have shown that there is a large amount of variance when it comes to individually produced self-explanations. Some students have a natural tenancy to self-explain, while other students do little more than repeat the content of the example or expository text. The quality of the self-explanations themselves can be highly variable (Renkl, 1997). One instructional intervention that has been shown to be effective is to prompt students to self-explain. Prompting can take many forms, including verbal prompts from human experimenters, prompts automatically generated by computer tutors, or embedded in the learning materials themselves.

Theoretical rationale

(These entries should link to one or more learning processes.)

References

Chi, M. T. H., DeLeeuw, N., Chiu, M.-H., & LaVancher, C. (1994). Eliciting self-explanations improves understanding. Cognitive Science, 18, 439-477.

Hausmann, R. G. M., & Chi, M. T. H. (2002). Can a computer interface support self-explaining? Cognitive Technology, 7(1), 4-14.

Hausmann, R. G. M., & VanLehn, K. (2007). Explaining self-explaining: A contrast between content and generation. In R. Luckin, K. R. Koedinger & J. Greer (Eds.), Artificial intelligence in education: Building technology rich learning contexts that work (Vol. 158, pp. 417-424). Amsterdam: IOS Press.

Renkl, A. (1997). Learning from worked-out examples: A study on individual differences. Cognitive Science, 21(1), 1-29.