What matters most here
| Rank | Practice | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Worked examples for chemistry and physics problems, faded over time (principle 3) | Evidence grade: Strong Strong (Barbieri et al.(opens in a new tab)) |
| 2 | Cumulative quizzing with feedback (principles 6, 7) | Evidence grade: Proven in classrooms Proven across school levels |
| 3 | Reading in science: background taught first, then text (principle 10) | Evidence grade: Strong Strong in principle |
| 4 | Problem-solving before instruction for students with the basics | Evidence grade: Promising Promising and contested; strongest evidence in secondary and university STEM (summary(opens in a new tab)) |
A lesson in this room
Quiz on last unit's mole concept. Teacher works a stoichiometry example with each step labeled. Students complete a matched problem with the last step blank, then a full one, checked on boards. Mixed review set for homework.
Leader look-fors
- Solved examples before practice
- Questions from earlier units in quizzes
Stop doing
Reading a slide of text aloud while students copy it. Assigning complex problems before students have seen a single worked example.
Where the evidence runs out
Most worked-example research is in math. Productive failure studies vary in what they compare against, so test it with a class rather than adopting it wholesale.