Welcome to the bare beginnings of the Worked Examples Project (WEP). We hope this small seed will grow into a forest. So what is a “worked example”? Well, first off, Dan Schwartz at Stanford has suggested that “working examples” is a better term. In fact, it is good to use both terms.
“Worked example” is a term we are borrowing and transforming from science education. In that literature, a worked example is an example of how an expert “works through” (that is, explicates, explains, and models) the solution to a well-known problem. Worked examples are supposed to make the thinking, practices, and values of a discipline overt and public for newcomers.
WEP proposes a new use for worked examples, one applicable far beyond science. When people from different disciplines and domains of expertise are collaborating to develop a new field, they have initially no well defined and widely accepted solutions to core problems. Indeed, until there are such solutions, no one can be sure such an emerging field is possible or necessary.
To learn more about Working Examples, visit the website here.