Why advice on task selection may hamper learning in on-demand education

In on-demand education, learners are required to plan their own learning trajectory by selecting suitable learning tasks. A positive effect on learning is expected when learners select tasks that help them fulfill their individual learning needs. However, the selection of suitable tasks is a difficu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Computers in Human Behavior Vol. 29; no. 1; pp. 145 - 155
Main Authors: Taminiau, Elisabeth M.C., Kester, Liesbeth, Corbalan, Gemma, Alessi, Stephen M., Moxnes, Erling, Gijselaers, Wim H., Kirschner, Paul A., Van Merriënboer, Jeroen J.G.
Format: Article
Published: Elsevier B.V. Jan2013
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jan2013
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      pub: Elsevier B.V.
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        83162044
        10.1016/j.chb.2012.07.028
      ppf: 145
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        atl: Why advice on task selection may hamper learning in on-demand education
      aug:
        au:
          Taminiau, Elisabeth M.C.
          Kester, Liesbeth
          Corbalan, Gemma
          Alessi, Stephen M.
          Moxnes, Erling
          Gijselaers, Wim H.
          Kirschner, Paul A.
          Van Merriënboer, Jeroen J.G.
        affil:
          Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies, Open University of The Netherlands, 6401 DL Heerlen, The Netherlands
          The Netherlands Institute for Curriculum Development, 7511 JE Enschede, The Netherlands
          College of Education, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
          Department of Geography, University of Bergen, NO-5020 Bergen, Norway
          School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
          School of Health Professions Education, Maastricht University, 6229 ER Maastricht, The Netherlands
      su:
        Learning
        Distance education
        Online education
        Counseling
        Ability
        Educational counseling
        Training
        Task performance
        Psychology
        Task analysis
        Internet in education
        Learning strategies
      sug:
        subj:
          Learning
          Distance education
          Online education
          Counseling
          Ability
          Educational counseling
          Training
          Task performance
          Psychology
          Other Individual and Family Services
          All Other Miscellaneous Schools and Instruction
          Administration of Education Programs
          Task analysis
          Internet in education
          Learning strategies
      keyword:
        Advice
        On-demand education
        Task selection
        Advice
        On-demand education
        Task selection
      ab: In on-demand education, learners are required to plan their own learning trajectory by selecting suitable learning tasks. A positive effect on learning is expected when learners select tasks that help them fulfill their individual learning needs. However, the selection of suitable tasks is a difficult process for learners with little domain knowledge and suboptimal task-selection skills. A common solution for helping learners deal with on-demand education and develop domain-specific skills is to give them advice on task selection. In a randomized experiment, learners (N =30) worked on learning tasks in the domain of system dynamics and received either advice or no advice on the selection of new learning tasks. Surprisingly, the no-advice group outperformed the advice group on a post-test measuring domain-specific skills. It is concluded that giving advice on task selection prevents learners from thinking about how the process of task selection works. The advice seems to supplant rather than support their considerations why they should perform the advised task, which results in negative effects on learning. Implications for future research on giving advice in on-demand education are discussed.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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