The Effects of Expertise andGuidance on Learning:

Can We Distinguish Two Types of Expertise?

Franck Amadieu, University of Toulouse

André Tricot, South Pyrenees University for Teachers Education

Claudette Mariné, University of Toulouse

Work & Cognition LaboratoryLaboratoire Travail & Cognition

Toulouse - France

AimsAims of of thethe studystudyn Cognitive load theory studies multimedia learning as an integration

of multiple sources documents. We investigated learning withmultiple textual documents, according to 2 structures:è Simple structure = linear (high guidance)è Complex structure = nonlinear (low guidance)

1. Level of expertise & structure (level of non-linearity)è Strong structure provides construction of a conceptual structure for novices and improves comprehension & learning (Hillinger et Leu, 1994 ;Naumann et al., 2001; Potelle & Rouet, 2003 ; Shapiro, 2000 ; Shin et al., 1994)è No real effect of structure for experts

2. Type of expertise: monovalent (one experience) vs. polyvalent (several experiences).

è Several experiences allow the construction of a high level of abstract knowledge (Briggs, 1988, 1990)

2 models in order to study the effects of prior knowledge andguidance provided by structures on learning

1. Cognitive Load Theory (Sweller) : expertise reversal effect (Kalyuaga et al., 2003)

è Novices : need a guidance for learning to compensate for the lack of schemas

è Experts : guidance may act in a negative way

2. Construction-Integration Model (Kintsch, 1988) :

è 2 level of text representation = text base & situation model

è Novices : text with high coherence = relevant situation model

è Experts : text with low coherence = elaborative inference generation(McNamara et al., 1996)

TheoryTheory

AssumptionsAssumptions

n 1. Level of Expertise : Novices vs Expertsè Novices need a strong guidance to construct an elaborated situation

model and to facilitate knowledge acquisition, whereas experts need a low guidance à expertise reversal effect

n 2. Type of Expertise : Monovalents vs Polyvalents

è Monovalent experts have fewer different schemas than polyvalent experts, thus when it comes to processing new knowledge, their comprehension and learning should be lower than for polyvalents

è Polyvalents have high abstract schemas which allow them to use nonlinear structure more efficiently than monovalents, because they are able to maintain and store more information than monovalents in working memory

MethodMethodn Course topic : Cognitive Flexibility Theory (Spiro)n Instruction : « to memorize and understand a maximum of informations »

n Expertise : è novices (32 students) = no pedagogic knowledge or teaching experienceè monovalent experts (35 future high school teachers ) : they know one or no

learning theoryè polyvalent experts (20 future primary school teachers ) : they know several

learning theories

n Controlled : level of computer and WEB use, level of study, age

n Documents organisation : linear structure (high guidance) vs. nonlinearstructure (low guidance)

n Performance : memorization (MCQ), comprehension (MCQ) and transfer(problem solving)

n Mental efficiency (Paas & Van Merriënboer, 1993) : based on subjective load (scale: 9 points)

-1

0

1

Novices Experts

Level of expertise

Men

tal

eff

icie

ncy

0

1

2

3

4

5

Novices Experts

Level of expertise

Tra

nsfe

r sco

re (

max=

10)

Linear

Nonlinear

ResultsResults : : levellevel of expertise (novices vs. experts)of expertise (novices vs. experts)

- Memorization (text base) = no effects- Comprehension (situation model) = no effects- Transfer (situation model + knowledge acquisition) = Interaction effect

(p<.001)- Efficiency :

-For novices linear structure is more efficient than nonlinear structure (p<.01)-Nonliner structure is more efficient for experts than for novices (p<.05)

-0,5

0,5

Monovalent Polyvalent

Type of expertise

Men

tal e

ffic

ienc

y0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Monovalent experts Polyvalent experts

Type of expertise

Tran

sfer

sco

re (m

ax=1

0)

LinearNonlinear

ResultsResults: Type of expertise (monovalent vs. polyvalent): Type of expertise (monovalent vs. polyvalent)

- Memorization (text base) = Polyvalents > Monovalents (p<.01)- Comprehension (situation model) = Polyvalents > Monovalents (p<.001)- Transfer (situation model + knowledge acquisition) = Polyvalents >

Monovalents (p<.001)- Efficiency

-Efficiency is higher for polyvalents than for monovalents (p=.05)-In nonlinear condition, efficiency is higher for polyvalents (p=.05)

ConclusionsConclusions

n Level of expertise: è A strong structure help novices to construct a conceptual

organization of contentè But no structure effect for experts = we did not obtain the expected

results about expertise reversal effect

n Type of expertise:è We demonstrated that we can take into account different types of

expertise• Polyvalents succeed better than monovalents• Polyvalents are more efficient only when working on nonlinear structure

Future Future researchresearch

n A greater contrasting of the 2 structures: è Contruct a structure more nonlinear (e.g. network structure)

n Investigate 2 levels of coherence and their interaction :è Super-structure : level of linearity of documents structureè Macro-structure : coherence involved by the content (titles, argument

overlap, causal structure…)

n Investigate elements interactivity : learning a fonctional systemè Structural elements = low interactivityè Fonctional elements = high interactivity

ThanksThanks a lot for a lot for youryourattention !attention !

2 2 levelslevels of of organizationorganization (structure)(structure)

A B

C

Intro 1a 2a 3a 4a 1b 2b 3b

1c 2c 3c 4c 5c End

A B C

Intro

1a

2a

3a

4a

1b

2b

3b

1c

2c

3c

4c

5c

1. 1. LinearLinear Structure (Structure (highhigh guidance)guidance)

2. Arborescent Structure 2. Arborescent Structure withwith somesome crosscross-- links (links (lowlow guidance)guidance)

LinearLinear structurestructure

HypertextHypertext structurestructure

Influence of Influence of otherother variablesvariables

n Level of study on memorization & transfer task :è level of study increases = text-based questions scores increaseè level of study increases = transfer task scores increase

n Level of computer use on memorization : è computer use increase = text-based questions scores decrease