The motivating effect of learning by directed discovery.

High school students were taught 2 novel rules of addition by a programed booklet procedure. Subsequently, '/s of the 90 Ss were given individual guidance in discovering the explanation for the rules (guided discovery), ^3 were taught the explanation by a programed booklet (directed learning), and the remaining l/$ were given no further instruction (rote learning). A questionnaire and a test of recall and transfer given 3 days, 2 weeks, and 6 weeks later favored the Rote Learning and Guided Discovery groups. The questionnaire indicated that the Guided Discovery group practiced the rules during the time interval between the learning and test period more than Ss in other groups (chi square, p = .05). The data support the hypothesis that self-discovery motivates the S to practice more and thus to remember and transfer more than he might if taught directly. Advocates of the process of learning by directed discovery claim a number of advantages, most of which are included in a recent article by Bruner (1961). He has suggested that learning by discovery benefits the learner in four ways: it (a) increases the learner's ability to learn related material, (b) fosters an interest in the activity itself rather than in the rewards which may follow from the learning, (c) develops ability to approach problems in a way that will more likely lead to a solution, and (d) tends aThis study was supported by a research grant from the Graduate School of the University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon. Grateful acknowledgment is due Jerome C. R Li, Chairman of the Statistics Department, Oregon Slate University, for his invaluable assistance in the statistical analysis Additional research assistance was ably provided by William R. Hogan and Arthur M. Jackson The research was reported at the APA meet