Worked Examples
Show a complete solution and study it together before students try their own
Use this when
What is it?
A worked example is a complete solution that students study before attempting the same kind of problem. You walk through it line by line, explaining the reasoning aloud. Novices who solve from scratch use their limited working memory to search for possible moves, leaving less capacity to learn them. Studying a complete solution first helps them focus on the method.
The steps
- Prepare the example properly. Before the lesson, write the full solution and note the reasoning behind each line: the "why this, why now?" that experts usually work through silently. The decisions are the content. The solution records them.
- Show it complete, then walk it. Keep the solution visible and have students put their pens down. Narrate the thinking (Think Aloud):First I ask what it's really asking… I notice both terms share a factor, so before anything else I'll…
- Check the reasoning, not the watching. Cold-call process questions at each step:Why divide before subtracting? What would go wrong if we didn't?Nodding is not understanding.
- Give a completion problem next. Use the same problem type, partly finished. Students complete the last step, then more of the steps. This step is often skipped, but it is the bridge to independent work.
- Then a full problem in the same structure. Keep the worked example visible alongside it. This is the "we" and "you" of I–We–You, with support still available.
- Fade across the sequence, not within one lesson. In the next lesson, provide fewer completed steps. The lesson after, provide no example: reasoning prompts only. Plan the fade rather than hoping it happens.
What it looks like
Ms Adeyemi's 15-year-olds are learning about moles. A finished calculation is on the board. "Pens down. Watch where my eyes go first: not the numbers, the units. Grams to moles means I need the molar mass, so before touching the calculator I write the triangle…" At each line, she stops: "Why did I divide there, Tunde?" "Because… it's grams per mole, so you divide by it." "Say the whole sentence." He does, nearly.
She finishes the walk-through, then reveals the twin problem with the first two lines done. "Finish it." Three minutes later, half the class has completed it correctly, showing her who is ready to move on and who needs more help.
How you’ll know it’s working
- The reasoning is spoken, not just the arithmetic. An observer can hear the decisions.
- Students study with pens down, then face a completion problem before attempting any full problem.
- Process questions are answered by named students at each step, not waved through.
- Across the week, the scaffold visibly shrinks: same problem type, less of the path provided.
Pitfalls & fixes
- Talking over the example about something else. Attention is split, so students are less likely to follow either the example or what you are saying. Keep one focus at a time, with silence while they study.
- Making "copy this down" the activity. Copying a solution is not studying it. The activity is answering why-questions about it or self-explaining each line to a partner.
- Jumping from the example to the hardest problem. The completion step bridges the gap between studying a solution and solving independently. Skip it, and students who need more support are likely to struggle at the same point as before.
- Examples that are too clean. Real work includes wrong turns. Once the basics are secure, show an example that starts down a bad path and recovers: "Watch how I notice it's not working."
Weigh it up
Why it’s worth it
- Novices learn more per minute from studying a worked solution than from spending the same minutes struggling unaided. This is one of the most replicated findings in learning research, and it is particularly useful for multi-step content that often causes difficulty.
- Working memory is used to understand the moves rather than search for them, so students who often struggle by step three can reach independent practice with a clearer method.
- The completion step also provides a quick assessment: within minutes, you can see who can complete the problem and which step each student finds difficult.
- Independent practice is calmer. With the method studied first, fewer students get stuck, so you can challenge those who are ready to move on and support those who still need help.
The costs
- Your quickest students wait while the class studies the example. Give them the fade early: extension here means less support, not more questions.
- The slow reveal does not have the energy of a "have a go" discovery opening, which works well for some classes and topics.
- The preparation is real work: explaining your own expert decisions line by line is hard precisely because expertise can make them automatic.
Adaptations
- Primary: the example can be built with the class ("watch me think… what must I do first?"), but the finished product still gets studied as a whole before independent attempts.
- Secondary / post-16: keep a visible example library (wall or booklet) so students can consult it by choice as support is reduced.
- Writing-heavy subjects: the worked example is a model paragraph, walked through decision by decision: why this connective, why quote here. The technique transfers directly.
- Practical subjects: the demonstration is the worked example. The completion problem is "you do the last step of the next one".
Where this comes from
The worked-example effect is a central finding in cognitive load theory, developed by John Sweller and colleagues. The use of completion problems comes from van Merriënboer, while Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction brings together related findings.
Sources
Related techniques
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