Tackling the difficulties in learning evolution: effects of adaptive self-explanation prompts

Figures & data

Table 1. Structure and content of the two worked example sequences.

	Sequence 1	Sequence 2
Principle	Homology and analogy	Selection
Solution steps	(1) Consideration of homologous traits	(1) Looking at differences
	(2) Distinction between derived and ancestral homologies	(2) Looking at the chances of survival and reproduction
	(3) Conclusion on relationships	(3) Looking at the consequences on biological fitness
Learning goal	Learners are able to use the ‘homology and analogy’ principle at different organisational levels and correspondingly conclude on relationships	Learners understand the principle of ‘selection’ as a non-random process and are able to describe existing traits as the consequence of adaption processes
Introductory text	• Definition of homologous traits	• Darwin's observations and conclusions
	• Definition of analogous traits	• Variation as an important factor affecting chances in survival and reproduction
	• Definition of initial and derived characteristics	• Definition of fitness
	• Relationship on the basis of derived characteristics	• ‘survival of the fittest’ is declared
		• Selection as consequence of different chances of survival and reproduction and heredity
Worked example 1	‘The fish inside of us’	‘How species originate’
Worked example 2	‘The monkey inside of us’	‘What women want and how men compete’
Worked example 3	‘The Neanderthal man inside of us’	‘Aggression’
Worked example 4	‘The land of the hyraxes’	‘The upright stance of the naked ape’

Table 2. Number of low-knowledge and high-knowledge prompts which were integrated into the worked examples for the LP, HP and LHP conditions.

	LP	HP	LHP
Paraphrasing	79 times	–	48 times
Recourse to information given in the text	33 times	–	22 times
Searching for relations between pieces of information provided in different representations	32 times	–	20 times
Anticipative approach	–	46 times	24 times
Inference building	–	70 times	26 times
Recourse to prior knowledge	–	21 times	6 times

Figure 1. Section of a worked out solution from the selection sequence with a self-explanation prompt (presented in the balloon) which should encourage paraphrasing, followed by the expressed self-explanation of a student with average prior knowledge as well as the coding.

Table 3. Mean number of self-explanations.

		Self-explanation characteristic
		LC	HC	Total
Type of prompting	LP	346	122	468
	HP	141	181	322
	LHP	180	660	840
	Total	667	963	1630

Notes: LP: exclusive low-knowledge prompts; HP: exclusive high-knowledge prompts; LHP: transition from low-knowledge to high-knowledge prompts; LC: low-knowledge characteristic; HC: high-knowledge characteristic.

Table 4. Mean number and standard deviation of self-explanations per prompt (P: Paraphrasing; RGK: Recourse to given knowledge; R: Relation building; A: Anticipating; DI: Drawing inferences; RPK: Recourse to own prior knowledge; O: Other; /: Prompt without any self-explanation; : Agreement) under the low-knowledge prompts condition.

	Number of self-explanations
		P	RGK	R	A	DI	RPK	O	/	
LP	P	0.61 (0.10)	0.04 (0.02)	0.01 (0.02)	0.02 (0.02)	0.09 (0.04)	0	0.11 (0.06)	0.04 (0.07)	0
	RGK	0.11 (0.06)	0.50 (0.10)	0.03 (0.02)	0.01 (0.02)	0.04 (0.03)	0.00 (0.01)	0.25 (0.09)	0.03 (0.04)	0
	R	0.14 (0.06)	0	0.51 (0.14)	0.01 (0.02)	0.02 (0.02)	0	0.08 (0.05)	0.14 (0.10)	0.22 (0.15)

Table 5. Mean number and standard deviation of self-explanations per prompt (P: Paraphrasing; RGK: Recourse to given knowledge; R: Relation building; A: Anticipating; DI: Drawing inferences; RPK: Recourse to own prior knowledge; O: Other; /: Prompt without any self-explanation; : Agreement) under the high-knowledge prompts condition.

	Number of self-explanations
		P	RGK	R	A	DI	RPK	O	/	
HP	A	0.03 (0.02)	0.03 (0.02)	0.01 (0.02)	0.39 (0.12)	0.14 (0.06)	0.02 (0.02)	0.26 (0.10)	0.12 (0.09)	0
	DI	0.11 (0.05)	0.05 (0.04)	0.03 (0.03)	0.09 (0.05)	0.34 (0.09)	0.01 (0.01)	0.28 (0.13)	0.09 (0.09)	0
	RPK	0.07 (0.07)	0.05 (0.03)	0.02 (0.02)	0.07 (0.07)	0.06 (0.08)	0.40 (0.11)	0.28 (0.13)	0.05 (0.05)	0

Table 6. Mean number and standard deviation of self-explanations per prompt (P: Paraphrasing; RGK: Recourse to given knowledge; R: Relation building; A: Anticipating; DI: Drawing inferences; RPK: Recourse to own prior knowledge; O: Other; /: Prompt without any self-explanation; : Agreement) under the transition prompts condition.

	Number of self-explanations
		P	RGK	R	A	DI	RPK	O	/	
LHP	P	0.48 (0.05)	0.02 (0.02)	0.01 (0.01)	0.04 (0.03)	0.18 (0.03)	0	0.12 (0.06)	0.08 (0.08)	0
	RGK	0.05 (0.04)	0.47 (0.19)	0	0.01 (0.02)	0.06 (0.03)	0.01 (0.02)	0.42 (0.11)	0.12 (0.09)	0
	R	0.12 (0.06)	0.01 (0.02)	0.41 (0.15)	0.01 (0.02)	0.04 (0.04)	0	0.09 (0.07)	0.19 (0.15)	0.14 (0.05)
	A	0.03 (0.03)	0.02 (0.02)	0	0.60 (0.13)	0.05 (0.06)	0	0.18 (0.10)	0.13 (0.15)	0
	DI	0.14 (0.07)	0.03 (0.04)	0.03 (0.05)	0.13 (0.05)	0.41 (0.12)	0.01 (0.02)	0.16 (0.10)	0.11 (0.11)	0
	RPK	0.07 (0.13)	0.07 (0.10)	0	0.02 (0.06)	0.12 (0.13)	0.50 (0.19)	0.19 (0.15)	0.02 (0.06)	0