Investigates the relationship between the use of appropriate study strategies and test scores on three different content area exams. Finds a high correlation between the use of positive strategies and test performance. (RS)

Investigates some of the mechanisms by which instructional objectives affect learning. Finds that with specific objectives, the secondary-task reaction times while reading objective-relevant material were longer, reading times were longer, and recall was greater than with either a general objective or with no objectives. (MM)

Discusses the various factors required in the construction and validation of affective scales and synthesizes viable procedures drawn from several widely accepted sources. (HOD)

Examines the effect of metadiscourse characteristics (attitudinal, voice, and informational) and level of test anxiety on students' learning from social studies textbooks. Finds high anxious students perform best with first person voice and no attitudinal metadiscourse while low anxious students showed the opposite effect. (RS)

Analyzes the role domain knowledge, analogic reasoning ability, and interactive knowledge play in the comprehension of scientific exposition. Finds that variables predicting performance on the nonanalogic and analogic versions and the variables discriminating between above- and below-average performers differ across grade levels, with less…

Investigates the effectiveness of technical vocabulary instruction before, during, and after reading content area materials in biology, government, and economics. Finds no significant differences attributable to the time of instruction. Finds a strong teacher effect. Concludes that the manner in which vocabulary is taught is more important than…

Examines the relative importance of vocabulary difficulty and prior knowledge on comprehension of narrative passages. Finds that knowledge-based preinstruction can significantly improve comprehension of a text dealing with an unfamiliar topic, but cannot compensate for difficult text vocabulary. (RS)

Using logical evidence and data obtained from two studies, the authors compared and contrasted the limited-cloze with the regular cloze on five criteria: validity, reliability, objectivity, practicality, and interpretability. (HOD)

Examines whether content area textbook passages could be rewritten so that middle grade students' main idea comprehension ability was enhanced. Finds that after reading rewritten text versions, some students could compose significantly more passage main ideas, and all students could compose significantly more paragraph main ideas. (MM)

Examines middle and high school students' views of instructional practices teachers use to facilitate reading of difficult textbooks. Finds differences between students' perceptions of the desirability of textbook adaptations (high) and their perceptions of the frequency of teachers' use of adaptations (low). Discusses the disparity between…

Reports on a study to determine the effectiveness of an integrated study strategy system that uses self-assigned writing as a means of learning psychology content. Concludes that the PORPE (Predict, Organize, Rehearse, Practice, and Evaluate) system can be a potent, durable, and efficient independent study strategy. (JAD)

Investigates the effectiveness of graphic organizers, directed reading, and the SQ3R strategy for learning content area information. Tests each technique in both a group social structure and an individual work structure. Finds the use of graphic organizers in a group social structure the most effective in facilitating comprehension. (RS)

Explores the effect of graphic organizer instruction versus outlining on students' recall of text. Finds that students who used graphic organizers and who received training in summarization and question generation scored significantly higher than groups instructed in outlining or graphic organizers alone. (RS)

Determines how science and social studies textbooks were used by teachers and students in 12 fourth grade lessons and what kinds of questions the teachers asked during the lessons. Finds that students do not get much practice reading informational text, and instruction often fails to promote conceptual understanding and meaningful learning from…