Generative learning theory posits that learners engage more deeply and produce better learning outcomes when they engage in selecting, organizing, and integrating processes during learning. The present experiments examine whether the generative learning activity of generating explanations can be extended to online multimedia lessons and whether prompts to engage in this generative learning activity work better than more passive instruction. Across three experiments, college students learned about greenhouse gasses from a 4-part online lesson involving captioned animations and subsequently took a posttest. After each part, learners were asked to generate an explanation (write-an-explanation), write an explanation using provided terms (write-a-focused-explanation), rewrite a provided explanation (rewrite-an-explanation), read a provided explanation (read-an-explanation), or simply move on to the next part (no-activity). Overall, students in the write-an-explanation group (Experiments 2 and 3), write-a-focused-explanation group (Experiment 2), and rewrite-an-explanation group (Experiment 3) performed significantly better on a delayed posttest than the no-activity group, but the groups did not differ significantly on an immediate posttest (Experiment 1). These results are consistent with generative learning theory and help identify generative learning strategies that improve online multimedia learning, thereby priming active learning with passive media.

生成学习理论认为，当学习者在学习过程中参与选择、组织和整合过程时，他们会更深入地参与并产生更好的学习成果。目前的实验检查生成解释的生成学习活动是否可以扩展到在线多媒体课程，以及参与这种生成学习活动的提示是否比更被动的教学效果更好。在三个实验中，大学生从包含字幕动画的 4 部分在线课程中了解了温室气体，随后进行了后测。在每个部分之后，要求学习者生成一个解释（写一个解释），使用提供的术语写一个解释（写一个重点解释），重写一个提供的解释（重写一个解释），阅读提供的解释（read-an-explanation），或者直接进入下一部分（无活动）。总体而言，写一个解释组（实验 2 和 3）、写一个重点解释组（实验 2）和重写解释组（实验 3）的学生在延迟后测中的表现明显优于无活动组，但在立即后测中各组没有显着差异（实验 1）。这些结果与生成学习理论一致，有助于确定改进在线多媒体学习的生成学习策略，从而用被动媒体启动主动学习。和重写解释组（实验 3）在延迟后测中的表现明显优于无活动组，但两组在立即后测（实验 1）中没有显着差异。这些结果与生成学习理论一致，有助于确定改进在线多媒体学习的生成学习策略，从而用被动媒体启动主动学习。和重写解释组（实验 3）在延迟后测中的表现明显优于无活动组，但两组在立即后测（实验 1）中没有显着差异。这些结果与生成学习理论一致，有助于确定改进在线多媒体学习的生成学习策略，从而用被动媒体启动主动学习。