Relation Between Intellectual Ability and Working Method as Predictors of Learning

Abstract

Abstract The relation between intellectual ability, working method, and learning was investigated, with simulations, in two different learning environments. By conducting experiments, students had to discover principles of physics theory. A structured condition offered students guided experimentation and a structured learning sequence, whereas an unstructured condition allowed for unguided discovery learning. Thinking-aloud protocols of high- and low-intelligence subjects were analyzed on quality of working method. The results indicated that both intellectual ability and working method are predictors of learning, but that their mutual relation is an intricate one. No learning effects caused by structuredness of learning environment could be detected.