Enhancing students’ critical thinking skills: Is comparing correct and erroneous examples beneficial?

Lara M. van Peppen, Peter P J L Verkoeijen, Anita E G Heijltjes, Eva Janssen, Tamara van Gog

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

There is a need for effective methods to teach critical thinking (CT). One instructional method that seems promising is comparing correct and erroneous worked examples (i.e., contrasting examples). The aim of the present study, therefore, was to investigate the effect of contrasting examples on learning and transfer of CT-skills, focusing on avoiding biased reasoning. Students (N = 170) received instructions on CT and avoiding biases in reasoning tasks, followed by: (1) contrasting examples, (2) correct examples, (3) erroneous examples, or (4) practice problems. Performance was measured on a pretest, immediate posttest, 3-week delayed posttest, and 9-month delayed posttest. Our results revealed that participants’ reasoning task performance improved from pretest to immediate posttest, and even further after a delay (i.e., they learned to avoid biased reasoning). Surprisingly, there were no differences in learning gains or transfer performance between the four conditions. Our findings raise questions about the preconditions of contrasting examples effects. Moreover, how transfer of CT-skills can be fostered remains an important issue for future research.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)747-777
Number of pages31
JournalInstructional Science
Volume49
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was funded by The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (Project Number 409-15-203). The authors would like to thank Stefan V. Kolenbrander for his help with running this study and Esther Stoop and Marjolein Looijen for their assistance with coding the data.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).

Keywords

  • Contrasting examples
  • Critical thinking
  • Erroneous examples
  • Example-based learning
  • Heuristics and biases
  • Transfer of learning

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