Is self-explanation better than explaining to a fictitious student when learning from video lectures?
Generating written explanations is a popular learning strategy in an online learning environment. Students can explain to themselves (ie, self-explanations) or a peer-student (ie, instructional explanations). However, for improving learning from video lectures, it is unclear whether writing self-exp...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/163557 |
| _version_ | 1811697539397713920 |
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| author | Pi, Zhongling Zhang, Yi Shi, Dongyuan Guo, Xin Yang, Jiumin |
| author2 | School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering |
| author_facet | School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Pi, Zhongling Zhang, Yi Shi, Dongyuan Guo, Xin Yang, Jiumin |
| author_sort | Pi, Zhongling |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Generating written explanations is a popular learning strategy in an online learning environment. Students can explain to themselves (ie, self-explanations) or a peer-student (ie, instructional explanations). However, for improving learning from video lectures, it is unclear whether writing self-explanations is more beneficial than writing instructional explanations, and whether writing both types of explanation is more beneficial than writing only one type. We compared the learning-related outcomes of students who wrote explanations under one of four conditions: self-explanation (n = 30), instructional explanation (n = 30), self-explanation then instructional explanation (n = 30) and instructional explanation then self-explanation (n = 30). We assessed the participants' external and internal attention, explanation quality, and immediate and delayed learning performance. Students in the conditions that included self-explanations showed higher internal attention, as well as better immediate and delayed performance than those in the instructional explanations condition. In addition, students in the two combined conditions showed a higher level of organization and elaboration than those in the instructional explanations condition. These results suggest that students should write explanations to themselves while learning from video lectures. Practitioner notes What is already known about this topic Generating explanations is a beneficial learning strategy. It is unclear whether explaining to oneself (self-explanations) is more beneficial than explaining to a peer (instructional explanations). The benefits of writing instructional explanations on learning performance were not consistently found across diverse areas. What this paper adds Self-explanations, both in oral and written form, were more effective for learning performance than instructional explanations. Students in the conditions that included both self-explanations and instructional explanations demonstrated a higher level of organization and elaboration than those in the instructional explanation condition. When compared to the self-explanations condition, additional instructional explanations had no effect on learning performance or internal attention. Implications for practice and/or policy Self-explanations was an excellent approach for learning from video lectures. Students should write explanations to themselves while learning from video lectures. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T07:56:52Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/163557 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T07:56:52Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1635572022-12-09T02:16:11Z Is self-explanation better than explaining to a fictitious student when learning from video lectures? Pi, Zhongling Zhang, Yi Shi, Dongyuan Guo, Xin Yang, Jiumin School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Social sciences::Education Generative Learning Strategy Instructional Explanations Generating written explanations is a popular learning strategy in an online learning environment. Students can explain to themselves (ie, self-explanations) or a peer-student (ie, instructional explanations). However, for improving learning from video lectures, it is unclear whether writing self-explanations is more beneficial than writing instructional explanations, and whether writing both types of explanation is more beneficial than writing only one type. We compared the learning-related outcomes of students who wrote explanations under one of four conditions: self-explanation (n = 30), instructional explanation (n = 30), self-explanation then instructional explanation (n = 30) and instructional explanation then self-explanation (n = 30). We assessed the participants' external and internal attention, explanation quality, and immediate and delayed learning performance. Students in the conditions that included self-explanations showed higher internal attention, as well as better immediate and delayed performance than those in the instructional explanations condition. In addition, students in the two combined conditions showed a higher level of organization and elaboration than those in the instructional explanations condition. These results suggest that students should write explanations to themselves while learning from video lectures. Practitioner notes What is already known about this topic Generating explanations is a beneficial learning strategy. It is unclear whether explaining to oneself (self-explanations) is more beneficial than explaining to a peer (instructional explanations). The benefits of writing instructional explanations on learning performance were not consistently found across diverse areas. What this paper adds Self-explanations, both in oral and written form, were more effective for learning performance than instructional explanations. Students in the conditions that included both self-explanations and instructional explanations demonstrated a higher level of organization and elaboration than those in the instructional explanation condition. When compared to the self-explanations condition, additional instructional explanations had no effect on learning performance or internal attention. Implications for practice and/or policy Self-explanations was an excellent approach for learning from video lectures. Students should write explanations to themselves while learning from video lectures. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant [62007023, 61877024]; Research Projects of Humanities and Social Sciences Foundation of Ministry of Education of China under Grant [19XJC880006]; and the Research Projects of Humanities and Social Sciences Foundation of Shaanxi Province under Grant [2020P021]. 2022-12-09T02:16:11Z 2022-12-09T02:16:11Z 2022 Journal Article Pi, Z., Zhang, Y., Shi, D., Guo, X. & Yang, J. (2022). Is self-explanation better than explaining to a fictitious student when learning from video lectures?. British Journal of Educational Technology, 53(6), 2012-2028. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13230 0007-1013 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/163557 10.1111/bjet.13230 2-s2.0-85129252221 6 53 2012 2028 en British Journal of Educational Technology © 2022 British Educational Research Association. All rights reserved. |
| spellingShingle | Social sciences::Education Generative Learning Strategy Instructional Explanations Pi, Zhongling Zhang, Yi Shi, Dongyuan Guo, Xin Yang, Jiumin Is self-explanation better than explaining to a fictitious student when learning from video lectures? |
| title | Is self-explanation better than explaining to a fictitious student when learning from video lectures? |
| title_full | Is self-explanation better than explaining to a fictitious student when learning from video lectures? |
| title_fullStr | Is self-explanation better than explaining to a fictitious student when learning from video lectures? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Is self-explanation better than explaining to a fictitious student when learning from video lectures? |
| title_short | Is self-explanation better than explaining to a fictitious student when learning from video lectures? |
| title_sort | is self explanation better than explaining to a fictitious student when learning from video lectures |
| topic | Social sciences::Education Generative Learning Strategy Instructional Explanations |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/163557 |
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