This research study sought to determine whether pre-reading assignments have an impact on a student's academic performance. Learning a new topic which oftentimes seems foreign is never easy. However, reading a short article or reviewing a slide-show presentation on the lecture topic before the lecture happens (otherwise known as a pre-reading…

The purpose of this study was to investigate bridging inferences and learning when students with low topic knowledge read multiple complementary biology texts. Using a think-aloud protocol, we assessed students' (n = 74) cognitive processes while they read one text about principles of natural selection and three texts about examples of natural…

The article focuses on defining how background knowledge impacts on second-language acquisition by giving a brief overview of schema theory, the interaction of the basic modes of information processing. A challenge of dealing with culturally specific texts in second language acquisition is also touched upon. Different research-supported views on…

The purpose of this study was to investigate elementary school pre-service teachers' understanding of photosynthesis and to examine if a refutational text can support understanding of photosynthesis better than a non-refutational text. A total of 91 elementary school pre-service teachers read either a refutational or a non-refutational text…

This study used eye-tracking methodology in the school setting to examine fourth graders' online processing of text and graphics while reading an illustrated science text. We were interested in identifying patterns of visual behavior, which was examined considering individual differences in reading comprehension, prior knowledge, and spatial…

This study explored the dimensionality of multiple-text comprehension strategies in a sample of 216 Norwegian education undergraduates who read seven separate texts on a science topic and immediately afterwards responded to a self-report inventory focusing on strategic multiple-text processing in that specific task context. Two dimensions were…

Background: Previous research suggests that narrative and expository texts differ in the extent to which they prompt students to integrate to-be-learned content with relevant prior knowledge during comprehension. Aims: We expand on previous research by examining on-line processing and representation in memory of to-be-learned content that is…

This paper discusses the transition from traditional face to face instruction to a hybrid format using the newly drafted 8 Standards of the Educational Leadership Constituents Council (2010) as guidelines for the curriculum, the 14 Learner Centered Principles (1997) from the American Psychological Association as elements for instructional…

The effects of prior knowledge and information orderings on the immediate and delayed recall of unfamiliar information under various levels of control for the effects of cognitive style and reading achievement were studied. Significant interaction effects were discovered. (Author/DF)

A study assessed the effects of metacognitive training in question answering strategies on students' ability to answer postreading comprehension questions. In the first part of the study, baseline data concerning the level of metacognitive awareness exhibited by expert readers when answering questions were gathered through the use of 44 skilled…

The differences among elaborative-interrogation, reading-to-understand, and no-exposure control conditions with familiar domain material in contrast to unfamiliar domain material were studied for 50 Canadian and 50 west German undergraduates. Results provide evidence of effects of both elaborative interrogation and prior knowledge on learning.…

Noting that researchers in the fields of cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence, and linguistics are taking a constructivist view of reading comprehension, this paper undertakes a comparison of that view with views concerning comprehension that have been expressed at the Claremont Reading Conferences over the past 50 years. The first…

Mobilizing relevant preexisting knowledge significantly facilitated retention of information inconsistent with prior knowledge but did not affect retention of congruous information. A topically organized passage was not better remembered than a topically disorganized one. (Author/PN)

This research examines adolescents' learning about a historical issue from multiple information sources. Adolescents read 2 contradictory texts explaining the Fall of Rome and thought out loud after each sentence. After reading, a series of questions probed their understanding and ability to reason with the information. Think-aloud protocols were…

Users of educational hypertext are faced with the challenge of creating meaning both within and between texts. Cohesion is an important factor contributing to whether a reader is able to capture meaning and comprehend text. When readers are required to fill in conceptual gaps in text, comprehension can fail if they do not have sufficient…