Learning with worked-out problems in Manufacturing Technology: The effects of instructional explanations and self-explanation prompts on acquired knowledge acquisition, near and far transfer performance

In the present research, two different explanatory approaches namely, instructional expla-nation and self-explanation prompts were applied in worked-out-problem-based learning (learning with worked-out problems) in a computer-assisted instructional environment in the domain of manufacturing technology. This research aims at comparing the effects of both explanatory approaches on topic knowledge acquisition, near transfer performance, and far transfer performance. Additionally, this research also attempts to examine the impact of topic interest on the aforementioned variables, in addition to the relationships between topic interest, mental effort, and learning outcomes. A total of 76 second-year students were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The pre- and post-tests were used to measure topic knowledge acquisition, near-transfer performance, and far-transfer performance, whereas topic interest and mental effort were measured by means of Topic Interest Questionnaire and NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) respectively. The analysis outcomes revealed that the self-explanation prompts approach was significantly superior to the instructional-explanation approach in terms of topic knowledge acquisition and near transfer performance. In addition, the results demon¬strated that the impact of topic interest was significantly noticeable on far transfer tasks, but not on topic knowledge acquisition and near transfer tasks. On the other hand, the relation¬ship between mental effort investment and test performance was not statistically significant. Finally, an equivocal relationship, which varied depending on the treatment conditions, was discovered between topic interest, mental effort, and test performance.