Cognitive load theory meets the real world: worked examples on a popular homework help forum

Abstract

Open online help forums connect students with volunteer helpers who provide assistance with specific problems from coursework. Cramster, the most popular existing mathematics help forum, is an advocate of cognitive load theory and promotes the provision of worked solutions as the best way to help students. The intent is that students can use these worked solutions as problem-solving models and learn from them. This project investigated this possibility by analysing 194 responses from the Algebra thru pre-Calculus archives from two perspectives: first, student ratings of solution helpfulness were examined; second, a rubric based on the accuracy and construction of the solutions was developed, applied, and compared with student ratings. The results indicate that Cramster helpers provided students with worked solutions that contain steps and sometimes goals, as opposed to final answers only. However, there were also many responses containing errors, and students did not show much discernment in their ratings.