Using incorrect worked examples during mathematics instruction can improve student learning. However, teachers worry that students may confuse correct and incorrect examples over time, and memory research supports this fear. To examine if this forgetting occurs, we had undergraduates rate the correctness of correct and incorrect worked examples immediately and one week later (Experiment 1). Previously studied incorrect examples were rated as slightly more correct after the delay, but this did not affect ratings of unstudied examples or problem-solving accuracy. In Experiment 2, we more closely mimicked how incorrect worked examples are used in classroom settings. Again, we found only small changes in students’ memory for studied worked examples after the delay, and no changes for unstudied examples or problem-solving accuracy. Our findings suggest the costs of teaching with incorrect worked examples are limited to the specific studied problems, and do not affect learning of the underlying mathematical rule.

在数学教学中使用不正确的实例可以提高学生的学习水平。但是，教师担心学生会随着时间的流逝而混淆正确和不正确的例子，而记忆研究则支持这种担心。为了检查这种遗忘是否发生，我们让大学生立即并在一周后对正确和不正确的工作示例的正确性进行评估（实验1）。先前研究的不正确示例在延迟后被评为稍正确，但这不会影响未研究示例的评分或解决问题的准确性。在实验2中，我们更紧密地模仿了教室环境中如何使用不正确的工作示例。再次，我们发现，经过延迟的学习实例对于学生的记忆只有很小的变化，而对于未研究的实例或解决问题的准确性没有变化。