Long term studies of advance organizers (AO) were analyzed with Glass's meta-analysis technique. AO's were defined as bridges from reader's previous knowledge to what is to be learned. The results were compared with predictions from Ausubel's model of assimilative learning. The results of the study indicated that advance organizers were associated…

A study explored the effects of prequestions (questions provided prior to reading) and the influence of a prediction strategy upon the amount and types of information recalled by children in grades three through six. Subjects, 188 students in grades three through six who were reading at third grade level or above, read a 900-word expository…

The extent to which advance organizer instruction about social behavior could affect preschool children's social problem-solving abilities was investigated. The study followed a pretest, training, posttest, and delayed posttest format and included periods of observation of children's spontaneous social behaviors before, immediately following, and…

The usefulness of intact (topic outline format) and embedded (positioned within text) headings as processing aids to facilitate recall was examined, using a 2,500-word passage from introductory science textbooks. Prior studies were subject to criticisms which this study attempted to correct, specifically: (1) use of non-optimal dependent measures;…

Index cards and audio tape can make the steps of the SQ3R system of study more concrete. This method can be particularly beneficial to "average" college students, who for whatever reason, have difficulty sustaining concentration while reading. The SQ3R method is suitable because of its simplicity, diversity of application, adaptability…

Three studies examined the nature of individual differences and the role of advance information in reading comprehension. The subjects, 116 college students, read short passages--in some cases preceded by a given type of advance organizer--recalled the information therein, and finally sorted ideas from the passage into groups of similar ideas.…

This study was performed in order to test the author's notion that advance organizers operate because (1) they provide stable anchorage for concepts to be learned and (2) in order to operate they must be relatable by the student to the new material. To test this hypothesis the author constructed materials for each of ten treatments as defined by…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the interrelationship between passage organization and the presence or absence of advance organizers. Two sets of stimulus materials were used. One set consisted of six paragraphs, each of which described the important events in the administration of one obscure American president. The second set of…

Explores ways people learn from text. Content overlap between a text and the reader's prior knowledge is identified as one factor. Methods are proposed to identify whether a text is suitable for readers with a specific background. The usefulness of coherence gaps that stimulate constructive activities is discussed. (SLD)

"Adapting Instructional Techniques" was developed at Indiana University to improve the performance of teachers in classrooms equipped for interactive audio or video in a distance education setting. The formative evaluation of this videotape is described. The tape suggested modifications for five common instructional techniques used in…

The combined effects of orienting activities and levels of practice on learning from interactive video were examined in this study. The 72 college students who participated in the study were randomly assigned to either a group that received an orienting activity (i.e., a brief statement designed to prepare learners for the information to come) or…

Although listening comprehension has been identified as the first and most important foreign language skill, research has shown that little class time is devoted to developing more than very basic listening skills. Early practice in listening in a foreign language helps to develop both language skills and confidence in communicating in the target…

This paper considers ways in which the organization of text can be made explicit through verbal cuing and the ways in which this organization can be related to the cognitive processes of the reader. It is noted that the textual factors supplementary to the main content play an important part in the comprehension of text and are, thus, important…

Many science educators are concerned with students' ability to understand science as a process and with their conceptions of scientific knowledge. Preliminary work has shown that the use of a model organizer can result in student perceptions of improved understanding, but the reason for this effect is not known. This research was undertaken to…

The "preplay" technique, an advance organizer summarizing important plot events before sections of a story, is examined for its effectiveness in facilitating children's selective attention to and comprehension of televised stories. One hundred and sixty first through fourth grade children, equally distributed by grade and sex, were…