Example-based learning often uses a design in which learners first receive basic instructional explanations of new principles and concepts and then examples thereof. In this sequence, it is crucial that learners self-explain by using the content of the basic instructional explanations to elaborate on the examples. Typically, learners are not…

Subjects read a textual passage encompassing hierarchically related topics. A structural outline presented in advance of reading the text facilitated reproductive recall of facts. The recall of specific facts was superior to that of general facts, implying an experimental demand to be precise in learning and recalling specific factual material.…

Educational psychology undergraduates were taught in alternating instructional sequences; one sequence was a conceptually oriented lecture followed by a factually oriented self-study, the other sequence was a factual self-study followed by a conceptual lecture. Results more closely supported the predictions derived from the educational set…