ABSTRACT
Richard Mayer describes the history of discovery learning in its purest form, the most student-centred condition possible. Much of the experimental research, which follows on from studies like Bruner’s, sets up comparisons between pure discovery and either one of two other conditions. One comparison is between discovery with no guidance at all and discovery with guidance. A second comparison is between pure discovery and a more direct instruction format. One of the proposed strengths of discovery learning has been that it leads to more transferable learning especially to more authentic contexts. In the range of studies, Alfieri and colleagues summarised there are some three-way comparisons between pure discovery and a condition called augmented discovery as well as direct instruction. Clearly, enhancing pure discovery through targeted instruction is one way to overcome the side effects. Worked examples benefited learners more than direct teaching and feedback and providing explanations were confirmed as useful additions to pure discovery.
