Worked examples: see one solved, then try your own
Studying a solved problem before your own can help most when a topic is new. It fits in two 10-minute runs.
By LogicFire.app About 5 minutes to read
The short version
- Studying a solved problem step by step, before you try one yourself, can help when a topic is new.
- In two school experiments, it helped most for beginners on complex work. We found no study of it with ADHD.
- This week: one 10-minute run on a solved example, then a 10-minute run on a problem like it.
Part 1 of 5, The technique
See it solved first
The chapter opens with a solved problem, then the questions. It’s tempting to skip to question 1, because the questions look like the real work. Then question 1 stalls on the second line, and 20 minutes go on guessing.
A worked example is a problem with every step of the answer shown. You study it first, asking why each step comes next. Then you try a matched problem of your own.
What the research found
A 2000 review by Atkinson and colleagues gathered the research into advice for teaching. It links examples with early stages of learning a skill. It advises several examples of each kind of problem, each near a matched practice problem. It also suggests encouraging learners to explain the examples to themselves.
In 2020, Chen and colleagues ran two experiments in Indonesia, with 52 Year 5 and 96 Year 8 students. Some studied an example, then solved a similar problem. Others solved first, then studied the example. On complex material, example first did better, most of all for beginners. On simpler material, with students who knew more, the order made no difference.
In 2015, Bokosmaty, Sweller and Kalyuga reported two geometry experiments. Students who hadn’t yet fully learned the theorems did best with examples that gave the steps and the theorems behind them. Students who already knew the theorems did best with the steps alone, better than solving with no help.
In a year-long 2025 trial in 58 US classrooms, McGinn and colleagues added worked examples and explain-why prompts to maths worksheets for children in Years 4 and 5. Overall, it made no clear difference to their early algebra or their readiness to learn more.
Does it work with ADHD?
We couldn’t find a worked-example study that included people with ADHD. The nearest is a 2026 study by Bichler and colleagues, in which 115 university students solved statistics problems with or without worked examples.
Examples helped more for students who scored lower at switching between tasks. For those with a smaller working memory (how much you can hold in mind), more of the help came through explaining their reasoning well. It wasn’t about ADHD.
Working memory is much weaker on average in children with ADHD, a 2012 meta-analysis by Kasper and colleagues found. So saying why each step comes next may matter more with ADHD. That’s our guess, not a tested finding.
There’s also a practical reason it may suit ADHD (our view). A blank problem has no clear first move, and that pause is where attention can slip. A solved example hands you the first move.
How to do it
- Find a solved example and a practice problem like it.
- Read the example one step at a time, saying why each step comes next.
- Try the practice problem. Stuck? Look back at the step you need, then carry on.
- Once problems like it feel easy, start with the problem and check the example after.
Part 2 of 5
Try this week
Takes about 10 minutes, twice.
Choose a solved example from this week’s work and a practice problem like it. Spend 10 minutes on the example, saying why each step comes next. Then spend 10 minutes on the practice problem, looking back at the example if you get stuck.
Finishing early is fine. If it felt easy, start with the problem next time and check the example after.
Part 3 of 5, On the timer
Example first, then your attempt
This needs signing in and the full layout (Settings → What’s on screen → Layout → Full).
- Pick the subject under Subject (+ new adds one).
- In What are you working on?, type ‘Example:’ and the problem, such as ‘Example: simultaneous equations’.
- Under Length, choose Custom (the last chip), type 10 and press Enter.
- Press Start focus and work through the example. A short chime plays at zero. Done sooner? Press End session.
- Want a pause between the two? With the clock stopped, press 5m beside Break. I’m back ends it early.
- Change What are you working on? to ‘Attempt: simultaneous equations’.
- Press Start focus and solve your own problem.
- Afterwards, click today’s bar on the chart. Runs on … lists today’s runs, these two among them, each with its length, how it ended and what it was for.
Part 4 of 5, Field note
Is the attempt a test?
Testing yourself usually beats reading again, as our essay Close the book first describes. With solved examples, it may not. In 2012, van Gog and Kester had 40 students either study worked examples only or solve a matching problem after each example. After 5 minutes, both groups did equally well. After 1 week, the examples-only group did better.
In 2023, Huang and colleagues ran three experiments in China, each with 80 to 120 university students, on maths word problems. Pairing each example with a problem did no better on a test a week later than studying examples only.
So the attempt run is less for making it stick than for seeing where you are (our reading). In a 2014 study by Baars and colleagues, children in Year 5 who solved a problem after an example judged their own learning more accurately. They overestimated less, but were no better at picking what to study again.
That study’s summary doesn’t say how many children took part. None of these studies was about ADHD.
Part 5 of 5
Sources
- Atkinson, R. K., Derry, S. J., Renkl, A. and Wortham, D. (2000). Learning from examples: Instructional principles from the worked examples research. Review of Educational Research, 70(2), 181–214. doi.org/10.3102/00346543070002181
- Chen, O., Retnowati, E. and Kalyuga, S. (2020). Element interactivity as a factor influencing the effectiveness of worked example–problem solving and problem solving–worked example sequences. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(S1), 210–223. doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12317
- Bokosmaty, S., Sweller, J. and Kalyuga, S. (2015). Learning geometry problem solving by studying worked examples: Effects of learner guidance and expertise. American Educational Research Journal, 52(2), 307–333. doi.org/10.3102/0002831214549450
- McGinn, K. M., Booth, J. L. and Huyghe, A. (2025). Preparing 4th and 5th graders to learn algebra with worked examples and self-explanation prompts. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 260, 106348. doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106348
- Bichler, S., Stadler, M., Bühner, M., Greiff, S. and Fischer, F. (2026). Worked examples, cognitive aptitudes and the self-explanation mechanism – A replication. British Journal of Educational Psychology. Advance online publication. doi.org/10.1111/bjep.70098
- Kasper, L. J., Alderson, R. M. and Hudec, K. L. (2012). Moderators of working memory deficits in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): A meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 32(7), 605–617. doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2012.07.001
- van Gog, T. and Kester, L. (2012). A test of the testing effect: Acquiring problem-solving skills from worked examples. Cognitive Science, 36(8), 1532–1541. doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12002
- Huang, X., Zheng, S., Yu, Z. and Chen, S. (2023). Retrieval practice may not benefit mathematical word-problem solving. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1093653. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1093653
- Baars, M., van Gog, T., de Bruin, A. and Paas, F. (2014). Effects of problem solving after worked example study on primary school children’s monitoring accuracy. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 28(3), 382–391. doi.org/10.1002/acp.3008
General information, not medical advice.