Learning principles / Worked examples and explicit instruction

Worked examples and explicit instruction

Worked examples show a problem solved step by step. Explicit instruction means teaching new material directly, with modeling and guided practice.

Items below are tagged by keyword rules when their title or summary mentions this principle. A tag means the item discusses it, not that the item is good evidence about it.

Tracked items (1)

Level 1: Descriptive or exploratoryLearners: Higher-ed studentsOutcome: Learning or achievementPreprintResearcher-made measureSmall or imprecise

Self-Explanation Tutor for Active Study of CS1 Worked Examples (opens in new tab)

2026-08-25 · arXiv (back catalog) · Study (preprint)

Worked examples are an important part of introductory programming, but reading their expert explanations is passive. Self explanation, students explaining the problem and its solution to themselves with subgoal level analysis, converts passive reading into an active study of worked example, yet it is hard to scale...

Worked examples and explicit instructionTutoring and personalization
Why this label for Self-Explanation Tutor for Active Study of CS1 Worked Examples
  • Level 1: Descriptive or exploratory: Consensus level confirmed against the methodology.
  • Review status: Confirmed against the published method (AI-assisted review)
  • Grader A: R5 design ceiling: the course deployment reports student revisions and learning evidence without a stated comparison group.
  • Grader B: R4 mixed study, so only the real-learner arm is graded (the LLM-vs-human-rater arm is T); that arm is a single-group course deployment, so R5 sets Level 1
  • Rule version: METHODOLOGY v0.3, pipeline v1, rules rules-v0.4
  • Worked examples and explicit instruction: matched 'Worked Examples'
  • Tutoring and personalization: matched 'Tutor'

Graded blind by two AI graders against our published method. Confirmed against the published method (AI-assisted review) Method