Pupils display a production deficiency within self-regulated learning arrangements using experimentation. Available strategy-knowledge does not result in an effective strategy use. This may be due to a lack of metacognitive capabilities and motivation. These aspects should be supported, then, in order to foster strategy use. Providing prompts is a promising method. The question is how to design them to optimal effect. Two characteristics were investigated in an experimental study, namely the adaptability of prompts and their combination with strategy-related feedback. 93 pupils in year 9 experienced self-regulated learning in a computer-based experiment setting. There was a control group and three experimental groups with non-adaptive prompts, adaptive prompts or a combination of feedback and adaptive prompts, respectively. The dependent variables were the extent of using a strategy for experimentation and pupils' motivation. Benefits for use of strategy were only observed for the group with a combination of feedback and adaptive prompts. The learners in this group remained also more strongly motivated than in the other groups.