Abstract
Statements taught to students can, in general, be described in proposition form, as "if it is p, then it implies q." Instances where the antecedent "p" is illustrated are known as substitution instances. In addition, it is possible to obtain another type of instances by illustrating the consequent "q." We will refer to this type of instances as symbolic instances. The aim of this study is to clarify the condition under which symbolic instances can have a positive effect on learning. We focused in our study on the teaching of history. We prepared three different texts that involved one of three symbolic instances concerning the Meiji era. Each text was presented to one of three groups of undergraduate participants in the learning session of the experiment. After the learning session, we presented them with a problem to which learners had previously given an incorrect answer due to their misconception. The problem could be solved correctly by referring to the symbolic instance presented in the learning session. In addition, we asked the participants to specify whether they had referred to the symbolic instance at the time of problem solving, and if they had not, to explain their reasons for failing to do so. We found that failure to refer to the instance had two causes: the symbolic instance had been given a different interpretation or the subjects had been unable to incorporate it into their cognitive structure. However, the symbolic instances that could be incorporated into learners' cognitive structure easily and did not allow another interpretation were effective. In the second experiment, we presented learners with two symbolic instances simultaneously. This treatment was revealed to be very effective in correcting learners' misconception.
