Worked example: a solution with its steps visible

The term points to what is shown: the problem has been worked through, rather than leaving only a final answer or an empty space for someone else to solve it. This page explains that format. It does not claim that reading a worked example will improve a particular learner’s performance or establish when an instructor should use one.

Not just “the answer is eighteen”

In an invented volunteer-club example, a coordinator wants six envelopes to contain three blank labels each. A note saying “18 labels” gives the result. A worked version also shows the information used and how the total was obtained.

The arithmetic below is original and deliberately ordinary. It is not a school assessment, an exercise from MIT, or a prescribed activity for a learner.

Problem: Put 3 blank labels in each of 6 envelopes.
Given: 6 envelopes; the same 3-label amount for each envelope.
Calculation: 6 × 3 = 18.
What the result counts: Individual blank labels, not envelopes.
Answer: The six envelopes together require 18 labels.

The line about what the result counts belongs to this particular explanation. It makes clear why the number eighteen is attached to labels. If the envelope contents changed, this worked solution would describe the old problem, not automatically solve the new one.

Name the part that is unclear

Suppose a learner can follow the multiplication but is unsure why multiplication was chosen. They could ask, “Where does the repeated amount appear in the problem?” That is a different question from asking what the multiplication sign means.

An optional note for discussing a supplied example is: “I can follow ___; I lose the thread between ___ and ___; my question is ___.” Fill it with the actual example in front of you. It is fine to leave the first space empty if the starting point itself is unclear.

This conversation concerns one visible solution. It is not the same as choosing an entire teaching approach, and it is not a request to recall an answer without looking at a model. A course may set its own expectations about how a provided example can be used in submitted work; ask about those expectations rather than assuming that copying is permitted.

A family member can be a listener

A student might want to explain the confusing step aloud while an adult listens. They might instead want help writing a question to the teacher. Ask which role they want before supplying another solution or finishing their assignment.

For a student who says, “I get this example, but not the next problem,” keep that distinction in their own words. That observation alone does not establish mastery, a broader difficulty, or the right next instructional activity.

Keep the claim small

The cited MIT page also discusses research and teaching choices. Those broader claims are not adopted in this glossary entry. The label-packing scene illustrates the meaning of a shown solution only; it is not evidence about instructional effectiveness, ADHD, or any individual learner.

Source

[1] Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Open Learning. Worked and faded examples. No page-specific publication date shown; accessed September 6, 2026. The opening paragraph’s terminology supports [1]. Its research conclusions, classroom examples, and product suggestions are outside this entry’s claim.

Related guides

• Learning objective
• Annotation
• Clarifying question
• Assignment brief