The Relationship of First-Grade Readiness to Third- and Fourth-Grade Achievement

Abstract

In meaningful learning tasks the acquisition process is influenced by the way in which the individual learner interprets and encodes the material. Early attempts to recall written materials largely determine subsequent retention, even when the learner's errors are corrected. To provide an indication of how information was interpreted and encoded by learners, adult students were asked to write notes on a meaningful prose extract they heard, and they were later asked to attempt recall. Whereas the meaningful items recorded in a subject's notes had a .34 probability of recall one week later, items not recorded in notes were recalled on only .047 of occasions, suggesting that the notes learners make provide a useful indication of the products of individual encoding processes In meaningful verbal learning and memory.     

L1 and L2 vocabulary glosses in L2 reading passages: Their effectiveness for increasing comprehension and vocabulary knowledge

This study investigated the effect of vocabulary glossing on recall and vocabulary learning, as well as learners’ preferences as to glossing. Eighty-five native speakers of English studying Spanish at the university level participated. Participants read a Spanish text under one of three treatment conditions: no gloss, English glosses, or Spanish glosses. They then were asked to write what they recalled of the passage, translate a list of the glossed vocabulary, and complete a questionnaire. The translation task was repeated four weeks later. Results showed that glossing did not significantly affect recall for the participants overall, but that those with higher than average proficiency recalled more if they had read a glossed version of the text. Those who had glosses outperformed their peers on the translation task administered immediately after they had read the text. However, this difference disappeared on the retest. Participants expressed preference for glosses, wished that they be located in the margin, and favoured Spanish glosses if they were comprehensible.     

Computerized Presentation of Text: Effects on Children’s Reading of Informational Material

This study examined whether children’s reading rate, comprehension, and recall are affected by computer presentation of text. Participants were 60 grade five students, who each read two expository texts, one in a traditional print format and the other from a computer monitor, which used a common scrolling text interface. After reading each text, participants were asked to recall as much as they could from what they had read and then answered questions that measured text recall and comprehension. Children took more time to read the passage and recalled more of the text material that they had read from the computer monitor. The benefit of computer presentation disappeared when efficiency variables, which take time into account, were examined. Children were, however, more efficient at comprehending text when reading from paper. The results suggest that children may take more time to read text on computer screens and that they are more efficient when reading text on paper.     

Cerebral laterality effects in the dual processing of prose

The degree to which the concreteness of prose material presented in an auditory fashion would interact with learners' lateral preference under different right hemispheric presentation conditions was investigated with 96 normal adults. Forty-eight subjects with consistent right preference patterns and a like number of bilateral individuals were either instructed to image, given a visual-spatial interference task, or given no instructions before listening to passages which differed in abstractness. As predicted across conditions, learners recalled a significantly greater number of ideas when the passage was concrete. Importantly, the abstractness was found to interact with subjects' inferred cerebral dominance. Whereas instructions to image and visual interference had little significant effect on mixed dominant subjects, for more consistently lateralized subjects imagery instructions increased and right-hemispheric interference decreased concrete recall. The results were interpreted in terms of visual and verbal encoding concomitant with cerebral lateralization.     

The Study Habits of Failing and Successful Students in the First Two Years of College

This research evaluated the effects of asking subjects to create personal examples of target concepts on their ability to recall, classify, and apply their conceptual knowledge. Subjects were 48 undergraduates at a large midwestern university. All subjects studied a passage on four psychological principles that contained application adjunct questions preceded by definition adjunct questions inserted after selected paragraphs. Application questions asked subjects to identify novel examples of target concepts, and definition questions asked subjects to identify appropriate definitions. One-half of the subjects also received instructions after each set of adjunct questions to write down two personal examples of the target concept (i.e., elaborate their conceptual knowledge). Subjects were also separated into high and low ability groups based on their performance on a series of ability tests. The results indicated that elaboration produced a significant main effect and ability by treatment interaction only on the application of the target concepts to problemsolving scenarios. An ability main effect was found for number of teaching examples recalled, number of novel examples correctly classified, and for number of concepts correctly applied to problem-solving scenarios.     

Effects of pictorial advance organizers on passage retention

This study examined the effects of pictorial advance organizers, provided prior to reading a passage, on students' retention of passage information. Fifth-graders studied a passage for 8 min and were asked to recall the material immediately and 1 week later. Prior to studying the passage some subjects were given 2 min to study an integrated pictorial advance organizer, a fragmented pictorial advance organizer, the passage, or nothing. Students given the integrated pictorial advance organizer recalled more than the other groups on both immediate and delayed tests of recall. These results extend previous research on verbal advance organizers by indicating that pictorial advance organizers can serve an organizing context for incoming passage information.     

Individual differences in children's ability to profit from picture adjunct aids

A paired-associate memory task with pictures and words as items was used to categorize fourth graders into four learner types: HH, high picture-high word; HL, high picture-low word; LH, low picture-high word; LL, low picture-low word. Some children in each classification read prose passages with picture adjunct aids; other children read the passages without adjunct aids. Although free recall for the prose passage yielded inconclusive data, a constructed response test for facts in the prose passages revealed significant Aptitude × Treatment interactions, such that poor paired-associate learners (i.e., LLs) profited more than did good paired-associate learners (i.e., HHs) from picture aids on the prose task. The children's standardized reading scores were positively related to memory performance, but good and poor readers did not differ in their ability to profit from picture aids. It was suggested that less-strategic learners, such as those who perform poorly on paired-associate tasks, are more likely to be helped by externally provided mediational aids, while more-strategic learners are more likely to be helped by instructions to generate their own mediational aids.     

Recalling structured text: Does what goes in determine what comes out?

Eighty-eight 12–13 year old children studied a short passage for five minutes which was printed in either a'chunked'or a'traditional'format. The children were then asked to write out the passage from memory. It was found that'chunking'did not significantly affect recall. However, the format of the presentation affected the format of the recall. Forty-four out of 44 children in the chunked condition recalled their text in a chunked format, and virtually all of the 44 children with the traditional text wrote out their passages in the traditional way.     

The Effects of Relevance Instructions and Verbal Ability on Text Processing

The authors examined whether relevance instructions compensate for differences in verbal ability on measures of reading time, text recall, and sentence recognition. College students (n = 81) with higher and lower verbal ability were assigned randomly to 1 of 2 relevance-instruction conditions before reading a text. They asked participants in each condition to focus on different categories of information within the same text. Relevant information took longer to read and was recalled and recognized better than nonrelevant information. Readers with higher verbal ability read faster and recalled and recognized more information correctly than did those readers with lower verbal ability. Results support the noncompensatory hypothesis, which states that relevance instructions and verbal ability make independent contributions to resource allocation and learning. Readers with lower verbal ability may need additional support even when given prereading relevance instructions.     

Prose organization and recall

In two experiments, subjects read prose materials with various organizations of the superordinate and subordinate conceptual structure of the passage. Variables included organizational salience, massed versus distributed repetition of the passage, nature of the cueing at recall, and number of exposures. In Experiment I, distributed repetition resulted in superior recall, extending the generality of that effect to prose materials; and an advance organizer treatment resulted in lower recall for scrambled materials, contrary to Ausubel's (1960) cognitive theory. High ability subjects recalled more categories than low ability subjects, but the same amount of within-category information. In Experiment II, materials which increased the salience of the organizational structure of the passage were better recalled than scrambled materials after three exposures, or on a test which cued the major categories in the passage. Cueing was detrimental to performance for subjects reading the scrambled passage. Results are discussed in terms of implications for educational practice.     

Adjunct question effects with review

The effects on retention of adjunct questions either placed at the end of a passage or inserted after their respective paragraphs within the passage were examined. The high school subjects were encouraged to review the materials after encountering the questions, a departure from traditional procedures in the field. Both treatments led to superior retention of the previously questioned facts when compared to a passage-only control group, but did not increase retention of previously unquestioned facts. The position of the adjunct questions did not differentially affect performance. The discrepancy of the results from those traditionally reported are interpreted in terms of the procedures employed.     

Children’s learning of all the news that’s fit to picture

It has been shown that pictures greatly facilitate children’s recall of story information, But will they have the same positive effect when the passages to be recalled are more directly educational? In these experiments, both single pictures illustrating the passage’s main idea and a group of pictures, one illustrating each sentence, helped fourth graders recall the illustrated content of newspaper articles.     

Pictorial organization in prose learning

Ninety undergraduates of high and low prior knowledge of geology read a difficult prose passage concerning the formation of a meander. Two groups of learners were forced to process a map-like organizer either before or after they read the passage, while a control group was provided no pictorial support. The results showed that subjects with little prior knowledge who were provided with the organizer prior to reading recalled at a level similar to that of subjects with a good deal of background knowledge. The findings were interpreted as support for the use of map-like organizers in the primary position to aid comprehension.     

Overt and covert use of objectives of different cognitive levels

College students provided objectives along with a study passage scored significantly lower on a multiple-choice post-test than students given the same objectives plus an overt task for the content of each objective. Scores on lower level post-test questions were significantly higher than scores on higher level questions. Students did not perform better on the post-test on content for which they had been given higher level objectives than on content for which lower level objectives were provided. This finding was not in keeping with what would be predicted from learning from text studies employing inserted study questions of different levels.     

Child and adult witnesses: the effect of repetition and invitation-probes on free recall and metamemory realism

Witnesses?? event recall and the realism in their evaluation of the correctness of their recall are of great importance in forensic processes. These issues were investigated in the present study by use of calibration methodology. More specifically, we analyzed the effects of two recalls of the same event (repetition) and of probes (non-informative follow-up questions at recall) on 9?C11?year-old children??s and adults?? open free recall and the degree of realism in the participants?? confidence judgments of the correctness of the recall after they had seen a short video clip. The findings were that repetition resulted in more units recalled both for children and for adults, and in that the children showed higher overconfidence compared with one recall, but not the adults. Moreover, when only the statements in the repetition conditions that were recalled twice were included in the analysis, higher confidence was found for the children (independent of an increase in the proportion correct statements of all statements) but not for the adults. Probing increased the number of units recalled for both children and adults, decreased the children??s proportion correct statements but not the adults??, decreased both children??s and adults?? confidence and increased the children??s overconfidence, but not the adults??. Finally, the combination of two recalls and probing disrupted the children??s but not the adults?? metacognitive performance.     

Alternative Assessment Portfolios for Students with Intellectual Disabilities: A Case Study

Abstract

Twenty‐eight classroom teachers identified students in their rooms who were low achievers, at‐risk learners; low achievers, not at risk; average achievers; and special education students. We videotaped these students during reading lessons conducted by their teachers. Using a stimulated recall procedure, we interviewed teachers and asked them to report their thought processes during instruction, especially those that pertained to the target children. We found that teachers reported significantly more negative thoughts about at‐risk learners' than about average achievers' attending behavior and ability‐performance. Furthermore, at‐risk learners received a greater number of comments focused on the need to monitor their performance. Special education students received significantly more positive and negative comments about attending than did average achievers. In addition, they received more miscellaneous positive comments than did low, not at‐risk, and average achievers. Finally, teachers reported making more classroom modifications for this group than for average students. Implications for prereferral classroom interventions are discussed.     

Understanding of structured problem solutions

Much of the material provided in science courses consists of sample solutions to problems. This study is concerned with how such structured material is understood, what is earmarked for storage, what remains stored and how useful this is for later ability to recreate the problem solution. Understanding was assumed to be the result of a cognitive process in which information about the material understood is stored in memory. Twelve S's were required to “think aloud” as they understood three problem solutions: the solution of the Missionaries and Cannibals problem, a geometry proof, and a plan for another geometry proof. Each solution was presented step by step as requested by S. Immediately after he had understood the solution S was asked to recall the “outstanding points.” A week later he was asked to repeat the recall and to reproduce the solution. A hand coding of the “thinking aloud” protocol was analysed by a computer programme. Patterns detected by the programme suggest that the understanding process of an S has some consistency for different tasks. An analysis of the recalls of outstanding points showed that the kinds of points best retained were the context of the problems and subproblems within the solution. In the Missionaries and Cannibals task subproblems were positions reached. S's who recalled positions rather than moves reproduced the solution faster. In the geometry tasks the subproblems were steps with two or more premises. S's who recalled more of these reproduced the solution faster. In the geometry proof these S's had more adequately processed these steps when they were attempting to understand the solution. The importance of the S's method for deciding when he understands is suggested.     

The Effects of Text Familiarity and Cohesion on Retrieval of Information Learned from Text

This study examined the effects of familiarity of passage concepts and passage cohesion on retrieval of text information. In order to distinguish between comprehension and retrieval processes, subjects were equated on comprehension; therefore, any differences found could be attributed to differences in retrieval processes. The passages used varied on familiarity and cohesion, but syntax was held constant. Middle school students learned information in passages to an 85% correct criterion using a study-test procedure. The subjects were not told that they would be tested on the material. Two weeks later, they took a free recall test and reported their rehearsal of the passage information during the intervening time period. The results showed that although the original amount learned was equated, recall of propositions from passages with more familiar concepts was about 35% greater than the recall from passages with less familiar concepts. There were no significant differences due to cohesion or the interaction of cohesion and familiarity. The explanation presented is that familiarity stimulates elaboration of passage material and elaborations provide alternate retrieval pathways at recall. Educational implications are discussed.     

Investigating the effect of deictic tracing on multimedia learning

In the reported study it was investigated whether deictic tracing during processing multimedia materials can support learning. Participants in the tracing group had to connect words in the text to corresponding elements in the picture by tracing with their index finger on a tablet surface. Participants in the tracing group were expected to outperform learners in the control group without tracing regarding text-picture integration performance and pure picture recall. Results did not confirm our assumptions. Instead, learners in the tracing group performed even worse regarding text-picture integration performance and drawing performance (i.e., replicating the to-be-learned picture) compared to the control group. Log-file analyses showed that only few learners were able to trace the lines correctly on all slides, so tracing difficulty may explain the unexpected results. Other possible reasons as well as the implications of these results are discussed.