Promoting Strategy Change: Mere Exposure to Alternative Strategies Helps, but Feedback Can Hurt

This study investigated effects of feedback and exposure to alternative strategies on strategy change in children (N = 106, age range = 7;3–10;0) learning about mathematical equivalence. Children’s strategies were evaluated before and after a brief instructional intervention. During the intervention, children either were exposed to a set of 4 alternative strategies (2 correct, 2 incorrect) without information about the validity of the strategies or completed a control task. In addition, some children received feedback about existing strategies, and others did not. Exposure to alternative strategies led to more strategy change and better performance on a problem-solving task. The effect of feedback on strategy change depended on children’s confidence in their existing strategies and on their pretest knowledge.