In three experiments, subjects listened to a taped lecture on the topic of exposure meters for 35-mm cameras and were tested after one, two, or three presentations. Results suggest that repetition produces both a quantitative increase in amount learned and a qualitative change in the reader's processing strategy. (Author/LMO)

Examines 44 published research studies involving advance organizers, and evaluates four specific predictions of assimilation theory. Analysis of the specific qualifications and specific predictions of assimilation theory suggests that assimilation theory is well supported by the results of advance organizer studies. (Author/RAO)

Subjects listened to a short science passage one, two, or three times. Overall amount recalled increased with number of presentations, but recall of conceptual principles and related information increased sharply with repetition, whereas recall of formal equations and concrete analogies did not. Advance organizers functioned similarly. (Author/PN)

Subjects read a text concerning a new computer programing language, with an advance organizer given either before or after reading. On a recall test, there were different patterns of performance. Results suggested that the locus of the effect was at encoding rather than retrieval. (Author/GDC)

In a series of five experiments, novices read a text on computer programming, and engaged in one of the following learning strategies: advance organizer, model elaboration, comparative elaboration, normal reading (control). Results of transfer tests indicated a pattern in which the treatment groups excelled on the ability to put the information…

In five experiments, novices read a computer programing text and engaged in one of these learning strategies: advance organizer, model elaboration, comparative elaboration, normal reading. Results of transfer and recall tests suggested that elaboration techniques can be applied to "real-world" materials, resulting in more integrated…

College students read passages describing quantitative relations among elements, and answered either 12 numeric (A=20C?) or 12 comparative (A .gt. C?) questions. When they received both types of questions, subjects performed better on the type they had received previously. Information stated as meaningful stories resulted in better performance…

The effects of advance organizers in learning unfamiliar material from logical or randomly organized texts was investigated in two experiments. Advance organizers enhanced performance on questions requiring integration of facts from different sections of the text. Results of both studies were interpreted as support for assimilation encoding…

Subjects in the first part of this two-part study (56 undergraduates) read a 24-frame text on computer programming that was presented either in logical or in random order. The results of this experiment showed that the subjects given an advance organizer in the random order presentation performed better on a posttest than did control subjects (no…

Eighty college students with no computer programing experience were the subjects of a study to determine the effects of the use of advanced organizers and subject control of instruction on performance. Students either received a logical or a scrambled sequence of instructional frames on computer programing, were either allowed to alter the order…

Fourty-four published research studies involving advance organizers were reviewed. Twenty-seven studies included an advance organizer vs. a control group (standard advance organizer study) and 17 studies included an advance organizer vs. a post-organizer group (modified advance organizer study). Results of the studies were compared to the…

Discusses five instructional strategies for increasing the meaningfulness of technical or scientific information. These include organization of prose, use of concrete analogies as advance organizers, use of inserted questions in prose, elaboration activities such as note-taking and discovery learning. (JN)

Three limitations of the Barnes and Clawson review (EJ 135 379), which concluded that advance organizers do not facilitate learning, are discussed. Several theories of the effects of advance organizers on internal cognitive processes are presented, and theory-related studies provide evidence that advance organizers can affect learning in…

Five instructional techniques for increasing the meaningfulness of technical or scientific information are summarized: (1) organization of prose; (2) use of concrete analogy and advance organizers; (3) use of inserted questions in prose; (4) elaboration activities such as note taking; and (5) discovery learning. Research on each technique is…