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  • Support for early career teachers
  • Education Development Trust
  • Year 1: Second half-term: how pupils learn
    • Autumn week 6

    Mentor materials

    Worked examples

    Intended outcomes

    The intended outcomes of this topic are for Early Career Teachers to:

    Learn that:

    • Worked examples that take pupils through each step of a new process are also likely to support pupils to learn

    Learn how to avoid overloading working memory by:

    • Breaking complex material into smaller steps (e.g. using partially completed examples to focus pupils on the specific steps)

    Activities

    Reflecting on learning (10 minutes)

    Ask the ECT to share an example of how they introduced a complex idea in smaller steps since the last topic.

    • What did they notice?
    • What worked well?
    • What will they do differently next time?

    Introducing worked examples (10 minutes)

    Pose the question: What is a worked example?

    The ECT should have read about worked examples in the self-directed study materials and will have seen two examples of practical application in Activity 4 (though they may not have used these). Handout 2.6 includes worked examples for you to refer to.

    Mentor notes:

    • A worked example is a step by step demonstration of how to solve a problem or task.
    • They can be fully or partially completed.
    • Examples could include solving a mathematical question or answering a comprehension question about a text.
    • They should be planned in advance.


    Pose the question: What are the benefits of worked examples for helping pupils learn?

    • Worked examples help to ease the cognitive load for pupils.
    • Pupils can focus on the steps as modelled in the worked example rather than trying to do it independently.
    • There is lots of evidence to show that pupils learn best when they alternate between worked examples, and completing similar problems independently (Pachler et al, 2007).

    Creating some worked examples (30 minutes)

    Ask the ECT to share an upcoming topic or series of lessons that they will be teaching.

    Work together to create a set of worked examples that they can use in lessons or for homework to support pupils learning.

    Use the following guidelines and look at Handout 2.6 for examples.

    • Worked examples should be either fully completed or partially completed examples.
    • The ECT should annotate their worked example to show each step and explain how they solved the problem or task.

    Planning for action

    Together, agree how the ECT will use the worked examples.

    For example, they might:

    • Start a lesson with a worked example, ask pupils to complete similar problems on their own.
    • Set a homework with worked examples followed by independent questions.

    The ECT has 60 minutes from the self-directed study time to carry out observations of colleagues or be observed linked to the key themes in this module. Discuss with the ECT whether they have planned this time yet or if they need guidance to decide who to observe and what the focus should be- see Activity 2.6 in the self-directed study materials.

    They will feedback on who they observed and what they learnt in the next topic.