Learning Scientific Explanations by Means of Worked Examples : Promoting Psychology Students’ Explanation Competence

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate whether worked examples are effective in fostering psychology students’ explanation competence. Explanation competence is a context-specific cognitive disposition that enables a person to construct a causal model of an observable psychological phenomenon by drawing on psychological theories. We set up a training intervention using worked examples to demonstrate how the observed psychological phenomenon (e.g., cognitive dissonance) is represented in an explanation. Instructional support was implemented using a fading procedure. We investigated the effects of worked examples on explanation competence using a sample of psychology students (n ¼ 46) from a German university. In an experimental between-group pre- and post-tests design, the participants in the experimental condition received the training intervention, whereas the participants in a control condition did not receive the intervention. The experimental and control groups did not differ in their explanation competence before the training intervention. Participants in the experimental condition had a significant higher explanation competence after the training intervention than the participants in the control condition. Thus, our results indicate that worked examples effectively foster psychology students’ explanation competence. Considerations on how the results could be implemented in actual teaching settings are provided.