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The purpose of this study was to shed light on the cognitive processes underlying the expertise reversal effect related to multimedia signaling. Multimedia signals highlight correspondences between text and pictures, which is supposed to support text-picture integration and thus learning from multimedia. Previous research suggests that learners’ prior knowledge moderates the multimedia signaling effect in that they only aid learners with low prior knowledge (LPK). We conducted an eye tracking study with students in secondary education who learned with a digital textbook in one of the two versions: (a) a basic version with mostly text signals only (e.g., bold face), or (b) an extended version with additional multimedia signals that aimed at supporting text-picture integration (e.g., color coding of corresponding text and picture elements). In addition to learning outcomes, we assessed students’ cognitive load and gaze behavior as process measures. Results revealed that only LPK learners were supported in learning whereas HPK learners were not affected by multimedia signals (partial expertise reversal). A moderated mediation analysis revealed that multimedia signals affected gaze behavior of LPK students in that they looked earlier at pictures. For high prior knowledge students multimedia signals lead to a higher subjective germane cognitive load. Thus, multimedia signals affected processing of materials. However, the process measures did not explain the expertise reversal of the signaling effect regarding learning outcome.

The study investigated the effectiveness of causal words embedded in Chinese texts to explicitly indicate causal links between the described events. Primary school students with different levels of reading expertise participated in the experiment that compared an embedded casual-words format with the original no-causal-words format. An interaction (expertise reversal) effect was obtained with the causal-words format benefiting novices but not more experienced readers. In contrast to previous studies of the expertise reversal effect that have related the effect to the variations in extraneous cognitive load caused by experts processing redundant for them information, this instance of the effect is likely to be due to differential levels of intrinsic cognitive load. The results of the reported experiment imply the use of different text formats for individuals with different levels of reading expertise.

The expertise reversal effect occurs when learner’s expertise moderates design principles derived from cognitive load theory. Although this effect is supported by numerous empirical studies, indicating an overall large effect size, the effect was never tested by inducing expertise experimentally and using instructional explanations in a computer-based environment. The present experiment used an illustrated introductory text and a computer program about statistical data analyses with 93 students. Retention and transfer tests were employed as dependent measures. Each learner was randomly assigned to one condition of a 2 × 2 between subjects factorial design with the two factors expertise (novices vs. ‘experts’) and explanations (with vs. without). Expertise was induced by adding expository examples and illustrations to the introductory text to enhance text coherence and facilitate text comprehension. The expertise reversal effect was replicated for the dependent measure transfer, but not for retention. Results and implications for adaptive learning environments are discussed.

The goals of this study were to investigate the timing and the mechanism by which two types of model-centered instruction (MCI)—expert modeling (EM) and self-guided modeling (SGM)—might be made increasingly effective, efficient, and engaging for learners with different levels of expertise. The 62 pre-service and in-service evaluators who participated in the study were randomly assigned to one of these two types of MCI. The participants in the EM group were provided with the conceptual models used by experts to solve ethical conflicts within program evaluation. The participants in SGM group received no guidance in developing their own mental models. Regarding instructional effectiveness measures, there were no significant differences between the two types of MCI. However, inexperienced learners in the EM group invested less instructional effort and time than did those in the SGM group. In addition, inexperienced learners in the EM group also exhibited more engagement than did those in the SGM group. Therefore, EM is likely to be the more appropriate instructional design for inexperienced learners. Expert modeling required experienced learners to invest more mental effort, because if the conceptual model of the expert was redundant, it required them to integrate the previous schema with resulting overload of their working memory. Regardless of the types of MCI employed, the inexperienced participants showed significantly higher levels of attention and satisfaction than did the experienced participants.

Finding the best match between learners' expertise and instruction is a central issue in educational psychology. The idea that different learners might need different instruction gave rise to the concept of aptitude-treatment interaction (ATI) launched by Cronbach and Snow (1977). The expertise reversal effect is a variant of an ATI effect. It occurs, when an instructional format that is beneficial for novices compared to other formats looses its advantage with increasing expertise of the learners and finally becomes disadvantageous for individuals with higher expertise (Kalyuga et al. 2003). Expertise reversal effects have been found for example by Kalyuga et al. (1998, 2000, 2001a, b, 2003), Leahy et al. (2003). The contributions of this special issue further elab orate these findings. Oksa, Kalyuga, and Chandler (this issue) demonstrate that the expertise reversal effect can be found not only in well-structured, but also in ill-structured domains such as the interpretation of literacy. Niickles, Hubner, Diimer, and Renkl (this issue) show that the expertise reversal effect has also motivational aspects and applies to the use of strategies. The article of Homer and Plass (this issue) indicates that the effect is not only related to domain-specific prior knowledge, but also to the general developmental level of learners. The findings of Blayney, Kalyuga, and Sweller (this issue) argue for the importance of adapting learning environments to the changing levels of learner expertise in the use of spreadsheets. Finally, Salden, Aleven, Schwonke, and Renkl (this issue) address the question of balance between providing sufficient instructional assistance on the one hand and self-regulated generative learning on the other hand in the case of worked examples, and they demonstrate that adaptive fading of instructional assistance is crucial for effective learning. There are some fundamental assumptions that can be found throughout the contributions of this special issue and in other papers on cognitive load theory. One assumption is that cognitive load is contingent to the limited capacity and duration of working memory. Another assumption refers to the concept of redundancy. It implies that information that is necessary for novices may become redundant for more advanced learners and may over load working memory. The following comments will analyze these assumptions more

The influence of prior knowledge and cognitive development on the effectiveness of iconic representations in science visualizations was examined. Middle and high school students (N = 186) were given narrated visualizations of two chemistry topics: Kinetic Molecular Theory (Day 1) and Ideal Gas Laws (Day 2). For half of the visualizations, iconic representations of key information were added. Results indicated a main effect of prior knowledge on learning in Day 1. In Day 2, a three-way interaction was found between prior knowledge, age group and icons: icons were effective for all middle school students and for high school students with low prior knowledge, but were not effective for high school students with high prior knowledge. These findings indicate that the expertise reversal effect can be mediated by cognitive development and other factors, not just domain specific prior knowledge.

This article presents two longitudinal studies that investigated expertise reversal effects in journal writing. In Experiment 1, students wrote regular journal entries over a whole term. The experimental group received a combination of cognitive and metacognitive prompts. The control group received no prompts. In the first half of the term, the experimental group applied more cognitive and metacognitive strategies in their journals and showed higher learning outcomes than the control group. Towards the end of the term, the amount of cognitive and metacognitive strategies elicited by the experimental group decreased while the number of cognitive strategies applied by the control group increased. Accordingly, the experimental group lost its superiority on learning outcomes. In order to avoid these negative long-term effects of prompts, a gradual and adaptive fading-out of the prompts was introduced in the experimental group in Experiment 2 while a control group received permanent prompts. The results showed that, over the course of the term, the fading group applied increasingly more cognitive strategies while the control group applied fewer and fewer cognitive strategies. Accordingly, at the end of the term, the permanent prompts group showed substantially lower learning outcomes than the fading group. Together, these results provide evidence for an expertise reversal effect in writing-to-learn. The more the students became skilled in journal writing and internalized the desired strategies, the more the external guidance by prompts became a redundant stimulus that interfered with the students’ internal tendency to apply the strategies and, thus, induced extraneous cognitive load. Accordingly, a gradual fading-out of the prompts in line with the learners’ growing competencies proved to be effective in mitigating the negative side-effects of the provided instructional support.

The formulation of robust and empirically-funded instructional principles is one of the major goals of instructional science. Research on aptitude-treatment interactions (ATIs) have, however, shown that instructional principles usually do not apply to any type of learner. As learners’ prior knowledge is the most important learning pre-requisite, it is clear that instructional principles should take prior knowledge into account: What could be beneficial for beginning learners might get detrimental for advanced learners. In recent years, the concept of the expertise reversal effect—developed within the framework of cognitive load theory—has inspired a renewed interest on the interactions between levels of learner prior knowledge and effectiveness of different instructional techniques and procedures. The expertise reversal is a reversal in the relative effectiveness of instructional methods as levels of learner knowledge in a domain change. The effect has been investigated since mid-1990s (see Kalyuga 2005, 2007; Kalyuga et al. 2003, for available overviews). It has been replicated in many studies with a large range of instructional materials and participants either as a full reversal (a disordinal interaction with significant differences for both novices and experts) or, more often, as a partial reversal (with non-significant differences for novices or experts, but with a significant interaction). The major instructional design implication of these studies is the need to adjust instructional methods and procedures as learners acquire more experience in a specific domain. The expertise reversal effect fits well some empirical findings obtained in ATIs studies initiated in mid-1960s (Cronbach and Snow 1977). However, although learners’ prior knowledge was recognized as an essential aptitude within the ATI approach (e.g., see Tobias 1976, 1989 for overviews), aptitudes and instructional treatments were investigated without taking into account underlying cognitive processes, and psychometric measurement tools used in ATI studies were not suitable for realistic instructional systems that could tailor instructional methods to individual learners.

The reported study compared the instructional effectiveness of Modern English explanatory interpretations of Shakespearean play extracts integrated line by line into original Elizabethan English text, with a conventional unguided original text condition. Experiment 1 demonstrated that the explanatory notes group reported a lower cognitive load and performed better in a comprehension test than the control group when students had no prior knowledge of the text. In Experiment 2, a reverse effect occurred when the same material was presented to a group of Shakespearean experts. Experiment 3 replicated the results of Experiment 1 using a different Shakespearean play. The study demonstrated that the relative effectiveness of instructional conditions depended on learner levels of expertise. In accordance with the expertise reversal effect, the benefits of guided instruction reversed and became detrimental for learners with high prior knowledge levels. Retrospective verbal protocols indicated that the explanations were redundant for expert readers.

Prior research has shown that tutored problem solving with intelligent software tutors is an effective instructional method, and that worked examples are an effective complement to this kind of tutored problem solving. The work on the expertise reversal effect suggests that it is desirable to tailor the fading of worked examples to individual students’ growing expertise levels. One lab and one classroom experiment were conducted to investigate whether adaptively fading worked examples in a tutored problem-solving environment can lead to higher learning gains. Both studies compared a standard Cognitive Tutor with two example-enhanced versions, in which the fading of worked examples occurred either in a fixed manner or in a manner adaptive to individual students’ understanding of the examples. Both experiments provide evidence of improved learning results from adaptive fading over fixed fading over problem solving. We discuss how to further optimize the fading procedure matching each individual student’s changing knowledge level.

This study investigated interactions between the isolated–interactive elements effect and levels of learner expertise with first year undergraduate university accounting students. The isolated–interactive elements effect occurs when learning is facilitated by initially presenting elements of information sequentially in an isolated form rather than in a fully interactive form. The expertise reversal effect occurs when the relevant advantage of one instructional technique over another reverses depending on the learner’s level of expertise. The results provided support for the predicted interaction with lower expertise students benefitting from the isolated elements instructional method, while students with more expertise learned more from the interacting elements format.