Stimulating Exploration in Complex Task Learning via Pre-Practice and Intermittent Knowledge Enrichment

Abstract

A growing body of scholarly literature points to the importance of exploratory behavior in the acquisition of complex skills. The purpose of this laboratory study, in which 257 undergraduate students (64% male) learned to play a complex video game, was to examine the effects of different schedules of presenting knowledge enrichment on learner exploration. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions with differing amounts of pre-practice or intermittent knowledge enrichment. It was predicted that pre-practice knowledge enrichment would lead to higher initial exploration, whereas intermittent knowledge enrichment would prompt sustained exploration throughout practice, both of which would lead to higher levels of task knowledge, acquisition performance, and adaptation performance. In general, the results did not support the hypothesized effects, but instead showed support for a too-much-novelty perspective, which suggests that learners can become overwhelmed with too much information (i.e., knowledge enrichment) and will accordingly engage in less exploratory behavior. The results suggest that intermittent knowledge enrichment can directly benefit knowledge acquisition and indirectly benefit skill acquisition and adaptation via exploratory behavior. However, the indirect effects observed were small in magnitude. Future research is needed to examine the potential of intermittent knowledge enrichment to support self-regulated learning for the acquisition and adaptation of complex skills.