Abstract
In an effort to identify the effects of presenting differentially structured in troductory learning materials, adults of three levels of prior knowledge of a specific mathematics concept, numeral sets in various bases, were given two differentially structured sets of instructional materials. One set was abstract throughout and the other progressed from concrete to abstract in structure.
It was found that the cognitive structure created by prior knowledge of the con cept can influence meaningful subsequent learning. Subjects with little prior knowledge benefited most from materials structured to progress from the concrete to the abstract, while subjects with high level of prior knowledge benefited more from materials that were abstract throughout.
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