Investigates whether advance organizers facilitate the acquisition of subordinate information from text. Examines the influences of reader's background knowledge, advance organizers, relative importance of idea units, and idea units' position within a text structure on the recall of textual information. (SR)

This article summarizes the findings of research studies designed to improve the comprehension of expository text for students with learning disabilities. Twenty-nine studies were located that met the inclusion criteria. Interventions gleaned from the review were categorized as content enhancement (i.e., advance and graphic organizers, visual…

Three experiments examined the effects of outlines prefacing text and headings inserted in the text on the recall of prose by 178 undergraduates. Results indicate that a combination of outlines and headings best benefit readers' recall. Results are discussed from a schema activation perspective. (SLD)

Investigates whether thematic organizers can facilitate generalizability of ideas from one context to another for low ability readers enrolled in a college developmental studies program. Finds that the thematic strategy facilitated transfer of learning. (RS)

Examines 14 studies involving the effectiveness of comprehension strategies (advance organizers, graphic organizers and mapping, structured overviews, and use of text structure) for developmental college students. Finds that many of the studies concluded that the strategies were not effective for promoting comprehension. Discusses several…

Examines the postsecondary research base for content area reading strategies. Compares findings to earlier studies of secondary schools. Finds semantic mapping and graphic organizers were more effective for secondary than postsecondary students, although most secondary students were not given instructions for the strategies used. Calls for further…