Why wonder “why”? The effectiveness of elaborative interrogation as a learning technique within an e learning course for commercial airline pilots

E-learning programs are a popular tool to convey knowledge or to serve as preparation in a flipped classroom set-up, in schools as well as for in-company training. The responsibility these programs give to the learner increase the risk of course failure. To support the learner, simple learning techniques can be incorporated. Dunlosky et al. (2013) identified elaborative interrogation (EI) as a promising learning technique. The current study analysed the effectivity of elaborative interrogation for supporting the learning of commercial airline pilots in an e-learning preparation for a communication course. The objective was to broaden the generalizability of EI as a learning technique, analyse its effectivity outside the academic context and possibly enhancing the effectivity of the target course. This study compared EI to an active control group using a different, noted less effective learning technique: summarization (Dunlosky et al., 2013). Prior knowledge is known to be an...Show moreE-learning programs are a popular tool to convey knowledge or to serve as preparation in a flipped classroom set-up, in schools as well as for in-company training. The responsibility these programs give to the learner increase the risk of course failure. To support the learner, simple learning techniques can be incorporated. Dunlosky et al. (2013) identified elaborative interrogation (EI) as a promising learning technique. The current study analysed the effectivity of elaborative interrogation for supporting the learning of commercial airline pilots in an e-learning preparation for a communication course. The objective was to broaden the generalizability of EI as a learning technique, analyse its effectivity outside the academic context and possibly enhancing the effectivity of the target course. This study compared EI to an active control group using a different, noted less effective learning technique: summarization (Dunlosky et al., 2013). Prior knowledge is known to be an important moderator for the effectivity of elaborative interrogation, which was also incorporated in the experiment. Two groups of participants due to take this course at the time of research completed the e-learning, either answering ‘why-questions’ (EI prompts) or ‘what-questions’ (summarization prompts) per block of theory. No significant differences were found on performance between both learning techniques. The moderation analysis of prior knowledge could not be executed due to violation of important assumptions. Limitations and recommendations for future research are provided.Show less

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Why wonder “why”? The effectiveness of elaborative interrogation as a learning technique within an e learning course for commercial airline pilots