Working on the assumption that an adequate model of comprehension must also deal with its connotative aspect (the aspect that concerns the feeling, mood, or "tone" of the text), this paper examines the concept of contextual tone. After defining tone according to its various senses and synonymous forms (voice, attitude, style, mood, and…

Case studies of eight graduate students were designed to seek indirect evidence for the role of explicit and tacit knowledge in interpreting a series of reading selections. The general hypothesis was that formal schooling would be used in nonschool and postschool situations in the following ways: (1) replicative--a situation that elicits a school…

The concept of knowledge gap (the discrepancy in the amount of information acquired by different groups of people reached by mass communication) can be critically examined to consider its theoretical and practical implications in the context of using communication to bring about changes in society. Some causes of knowledge gap include differences…

Based on the theory that learning takes place if the learner is able to relate new knowledge to something already known, the course of study described in this booklet consists of recording stories dictated by individual students and using these stories as a basis for teaching reading and creative writing to students from preschool through adult…

The Regents External Degree is a New York State program offering a college degree to individuals, whether by earned college credit or knowledge acquired in other experience areas. The external degree and the College Proficiency Examinations are administered by the University of the State of New York, which has no campus or courses but accepts…

The procedures described in this report are designed to help students both develop and apply effective behaviors for understanding expository text by means of gloss--a technique that involves the use of marginal notes and other intratext notations to direct readers' attention to places in the text where the application of specific skills and…

The effect of the amount of prior knowledge on the long-term retrieval of information is examined. In two studies, seventh and eighth grade students of average or above average reading ability learned passages to simulate materials from history textbooks (factual), from reading textbooks (narrative), and from science textbooks (conceptual).…

Two aptitude treatment interaction questions were investigated: (1) relationship between prior learning and instructional method, and (2) interaction between anxiety and the opportunity to rewind instructional tapes. Students from five educational psychology classes (112 undergraduate) were shown video modules under either of two conditions: (1)…

This monograph examines issues relative to the awarding of academic credit to out-of-school youths for work experience and training programs designed by prime sponsors or their contractors with local education agencies under the Youth Community Conservation and Improvements Projects, the Youth Employment and Training Programs, and by the…

Credentialing educational accomplishment is an important function of colleges and universities. It is shown that accreditation and national assessment programs provide academe with effective tools for improving the quality and social justice of the credentialing system regarding extrainstitutional learning. National testing programs, ACE credit…

Examines the influence of prior knowledge on the quality of fourth-grade students' responses to three process-approach tasks: writing, conferencing, and revising. Results suggest that prior knowledge is a significant factor in all phases of process-approach lessons. (NH)

Describes a comprehension questioning strategy, based on R. Stauffer's Directed Reading-Thinking Activity, that enhances students' use of reasoning on the basis of prior knowledge. (FL)

A study investigated the effect of relevant background knowledge on the reading comprehension of students of Spanish. Students with limited knowledge of baseball took a comprehension test on a Spanish-language report of a baseball game. Results indicate that background knowledge is possibly more important than language level for comprehension.…

Determined if there are certain propositions that physics students (N=31) share with respect to a topic, to what extent is a student's knowledge on a subject idiosyncratic, and if there are different groups of students whose members share distinctive sets of propositions. Results are reported and discussed. (DH)

Examines whether learning rates vary across students, teachers, and subject matter as a function of instructional time. Offers a model of the relationship between time and learning. Discovers that the varying positive effects of instructional time on reading and mathematics achievement depend on teachers' and students' initial ability. (ETS)