{
  "schema": "vedokrok.public-item.v1",
  "release_id": "MHC-RPUB-20260920-75ad787a",
  "url": "/knowledge/remove-worked-steps-gradually",
  "id": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0239",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "title": "Remove worked steps gradually",
  "summary": "There is a useful middle ground between watching and being abandoned.",
  "kind": "protocol",
  "body": "Move from a worked solution to completion problems with some steps missing, then to an independent problem. Research on fading examines this transition; a 2025 programming study also found a performance benefit in its setting. Do not judge the method only by whether it feels easier: that study did not find a significant cognitive-load difference.",
  "limits": [
    "Fading too quickly can remove needed instruction; leaving every step visible can hide dependence."
  ],
  "topics": [
    "union-learning-design"
  ],
  "intents": [],
  "source_ids": [
    "RS-C9D217C1065E930D",
    "RS-4205B5DB4D7539EC"
  ],
  "evidence": [
    {
      "claim": "Renkl and colleagues investigated transitions from worked examples to independent problem solving by progressively removing solution steps.",
      "source_id": "RS-C9D217C1065E930D",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "The appropriate fading pace depends on the learner and material; no universal sequence length is established here.",
      "locator": "Abstract"
    },
    {
      "claim": "A 2025 programming study reported better algorithmic performance for its faded-example strategy without a significant difference in cognitive load.",
      "source_id": "RS-4205B5DB4D7539EC",
      "role": "contextualizes",
      "note": "This is a narrow result in programming instruction, not proof that fading always feels easier.",
      "locator": "Abstract"
    }
  ],
  "use_when": [
    "A complete example makes sense, but a blank problem leaves you stranded."
  ],
  "avoid_when": [
    "Fading too quickly can remove needed instruction; leaving every step visible can hide dependence."
  ],
  "example": "First finish the final calculation, later supply the setup as well, and finally select and execute the whole method.",
  "check": "You can complete a new problem after the scaffold is removed.",
  "steps": [
    "Study a correct example and identify the purpose of each step.",
    "Complete a similar example with part of the solution removed.",
    "Reduce support as performance permits, then solve a fresh problem unaided."
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "RS-C9D217C1065E930D",
      "title": "How Fading Worked Solution Steps Works—A Cognitive Load Perspective",
      "url": "https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:TRUC.0000021815.74806.f6"
    },
    {
      "id": "RS-4205B5DB4D7539EC",
      "title": "An Experimental Evaluation of Worked Example Strategies for Efficient Programming Instruction",
      "url": "https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10758-025-09901-2"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "from": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0239",
      "to": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0241",
      "type": "use_before",
      "url": "/knowledge/mix-problems-so-the-method-is-no-longer-announced"
    }
  ],
  "collections": [
    {
      "id": "RC-C1E3F750B0A3CC6C",
      "title": "Design practice that survives the study session",
      "url": "/collections/design-practice-that-survives-the-study-session"
    }
  ]
}