Elaboration theory

The elaboration theory is a method for the content-related division (segmentation) and chronological division (sequencing) of learning content. It is used to create curricula to build up expert knowledge. The elaboration theory was developed by the educational researcher Charles M. Reigeluth and goes back to the didactic principle of the spiral curriculum according to Jerome Bruner .

Basic idea

The arrangement of learning content can be linear by working through a topic up to a certain level of difficulty and then switching to another topic. If you arrange the learning content in a spiral, several topics are worked on next to each other up to a certain level of difficulty, until later, on a higher level of difficulty, you start again with the first topic. This principle is of particular importance in mathematics didactics . Individual mathematical contents, such as geometry, stochastics, etc., do not break down into unrelated areas and the learners retain an orientation to the relationships between the individual topics. In a practical context, however, the question usually arises to what extent a topic should be deepened before moving on to the next. Here Reigeluth viewed the linear and spiral arrangement as the endpoints of a spectrum.

Domain competence

Domain competence means expert knowledge in a specific area of knowledge without being tied to a specific task. So while the task expertise provides knowledge about how to use electronic controls to operate a specific machine, for example, domain expertise is about understanding electronic control systems in general. The domain competence is in turn divided into conceptual and theoretical competence. This differentiation is necessary when arranging learning content, as one has to proceed somewhat differently depending on which content dominates.

Conceptual elaboration

If the focus is on conveying many interrelated terms ( conceptual elaboration sequence ), it makes sense to move from conveying more general terms to an increasing conveyance of narrower, more specific terms. The terms can then be supplemented with context information to which there is a content-related reference. The terms and associated context information are combined into learning episodes and linked to other learning units without interrupting the learning process. Pay attention to the size of these learning episodes so that they remain manageable when linking. The learners should be able to influence the order of the conceptual knowledge transfer.

Theoretical elaboration

When imparting theoretical principles ( theoretical elaboration sequence ), an approach is recommended in which general statements are used to advance to deeper levels of understanding. Learning episodes can be created by means of supporting content, for example smaller digressions that relate to the principle presented. Within these learning episodes, however, the reference to the overall context must always be preserved, through summaries and a return to the perspective of the higher-level, more general principles. The learners can be included in determining the order as far as it makes sense.

Simplified terms

If you take expert knowledge as a role model when imparting task competencies, it makes sense to do this first under simplified conditions and then gradually reduce them. In procedural tasks, the focus is on the individual steps that experts use to decide what to do and when. In contrast, the focus of heuristic tasks is on the principles or effect models on which experts are based. The focus is on the holistic nature of the task competence to be conveyed. Here you start with the simplest version for the overall task, which is then conveyed in increasingly complex versions or under more difficult framework conditions. The introduction is a representative, complete and realistic version of the overall task under simple conditions. This is then conveyed in gradually increasingly complex versions or under more difficult framework conditions, whereby the differences are explicitly shown to the learners.

literature

CM Reigeluth (Ed.): Instructional-design theories and models. A new paradigm of instructional theory. Erlbaum, Mahwah, New Jersey 1999, ISBN 0-8058-2859-1 , pp. 425-453.
Helmut M. Niegemann, Steffi Domagk, Silvia Hessel, Alexandra Hein, Matthias Hupfer, Annett Zobel: Compendium of multimedia learning. Springer-Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-540-37225-7 , pp. 145-150.