Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

It is established that examples are beneficial for learning, but are certain types of examples more helpful than others?Erroneous examples include errors that students are asked to correct, something that can be helpful in addressing mis-conceptions. One domain that is vulnerable to misconceptions is fraction arithmetic. In the present study, undergraduatestudents solved fraction problems using a tutoring system we designed. Some participants worked with the Erroneous-Example tutor, which supplemented problems with erroneous examples, while other participants worked with a traditionalProblem-Solving tutor that did not include erroneous examples. To evaluate the impact of tutor type on learning andself-efficacy, we analyzed difference scores from pre-test to post-test. While overall participants significantly improvedtheir fraction knowledge and self-efficacy, there was no significant difference between the two groups. Bayesian analysesprovided evidence for the null model, i.e., that erroneous examples were not more beneficial than traditional problemsolving.