FIGURE 7.1 Effects of two methods of training on problem-solving, final answer, and principle understanding. SOURCE: Dufresne et al. (1992).

non-hierarchically. Similarly, students who received a hierarchical organization of problem-solving strategies performed much better than subjects who received the same strategies organized non-hierarchically. Thus, helping students to organize their knowledge is as important as the knowledge itself, since knowledge organization is likely to affect students’ intellectual performance.

These examples demonstrate the importance of deliberate practice and of having a “coach” who provides feedback for ways of optimizing performance (see Chapter 3). If students had simply been given problems to solve on their own (an instructional practice used in all the sciences), it is highly