The Effect of Metacognitive Instruction in Outlining and Graphic Organizer Construction on Students' Comprehension in a Tenth-Grade World History Class

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to explore the effect of graphic organizer instruction versus outlining on students' text recall in tenth-grade world history. Based on the hierarchical structure of graphic organizers depicting interrelationships among ideas, we hypothesized that students instructed in the use of graphic organizers would display significantly higher text recall than a group using outlines. Seventy-two tenth graders in three sections of world history participated in the study. Two sections received systematic instruction in the development of graphic organizers and a third section received parallel instruction in outlining. One of the two graphic organizer sections had previous instruction in summarization and question generation during an earlier study. Six 15-item multiple-choice quizzes comprised one of the dependent measures. On the first five quizzes there were no significant differences between the three sections. However, when teacher prompting was phased-out on quiz six, the graphic organizer group with previous training in summarization significantly outperformed the other two groups. Additionally, on a second dependent measure involving the development of a written recall protocol based on difficult college level text, the group with previous summarization experience significantly outperformed both the new graphic organizer group and the outlining section. Implications for a cumulative, long-range view of metacognitive instruction are discussed.

References

Adams

Carnine

Gersten

(1982). Instructional strategies for studying content area texts in the intermediate grades. Reading Research Quarterly, 18, 27–55.

Alvermann

D. E.

(1982). Restructuring text facilitates written recall of main ideas. Journal of Reading, 25, 754–758.

Anderson

T. H.

(1980). Study strategies and adjunct aids. In Spiro

R. J.

Bruce

B. C.

Brewer

W. F.

(Eds.), Theoretical issues in reading comprehension (pp. 483–502). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Anderson

T. H.

Armbruster

B. B.

(1984). Studying. In Pearson

P. D.

Barr

Kamil

M. L.

Mosenthal

(Eds.), Handbook of reading research. New York, NY: Longman.

Armbruster

B. B.

Brown

A. L.

(1984). Learning from reading: The role of metacognition. In Anderson

R. C.

Osborn

Tierney

R. J.

(Eds.), Learning to read in American schools: Basal readers and content texts. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Baker

Brown

A. L.

(1984). Metacognitive skills and reading. In Pearson

P. D.

Barr

Kamil

M. L.

Mosenthal

(Eds.), Handbook of reading research. New York, NY: Longman.

Bransford

J. D.

(1979). Human cognition: Learning, understanding and remembering. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co.

Barron

R. F.

(1969). The use of vocabulary as an advance organizer. In Herber

H. L.

Sanders

P. L.

(Eds.), Research in reading in the content areas: First year report. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.

Barton

W. A.

Jr. (1930). Outlining as a study procedure. New York, NY: Columbia University Bureau of Publications.

10.

Bean

T. W.

Singer

(1983). Predicting freshman achievement in the UC and CSU systems. The California Reader, 16, 29–32.

11.

Bean

T. W.

Singer

Sorter

Frazee

(1983). Acquisition of summarization rules as a basis for question generation in learning from expository text at the high school level. In Niles

J. A.

(Ed.), Searches for meaning in reading/language processing and instruction, thirty-second yearbook of the National Reading Conference. Rochester, NY: National Reading Conference.

12.

Carter

H. D.

(1957). Manual of the California study methods survey. Monterey, CA: CTB/McGraw-Hill.

13.

Day

J. D.

(1980). Training summarization skills: A comparison of teaching methods. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois.

14.

Geva

(1983). Facilitating reading comprehension through flowcharting. Reading Research Quarterly, Summer, 18, 384–405.

15.

Kintsch

van Dijk

T. A.

(1978). Toward a model of text comprehension and production. Psychological Review, 85, 363–394.

16.

Lunstrum

J. P.

Taylor

B. L.

(1978). Teaching reading in the social studies. Urbana, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills.

17.

McNeil

Donant

(1982). Summarization strategy for improving reading comprehension. In Niles

J. A.

Harris

L. A.

(Eds.), New inquiries in reading research and instruction, thirty-first yearbook of the National Reading Conference. Rochester: National Reading Conference.

18.

Meyer

B. J. F.

(1983). Text structure and its use in studying comprehension across the adult life span. In Hutson

B. A.

(Ed.), Advances in Reading/Language Research. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

19.

Moore

D. W.

Readence

J. E.

(1980). A meta-analysis of the effect of graphic organizers on learning from text. In Kamil

M. L.

Moe

A. L.

(Eds.), Perspectives on reading research and instruction, twenty-ninth yearbook of the National Reading Conference. Washington, DC: National Reading Conference.

20.

Ostrowski

Kemper

(1977). Echoes of time: A world history. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

21.

Raygor

A. L.

(1977). The Raygor Readability Estimate: A quick and easy way to determine difficulty. In Pearson

P. D.

(Ed.), Reading: Theory, Research, and Practice, twenty-sixth yearbook of the National Reading Conference.

22.

Thelen

(1982). Preparing students for content assignments. Journal of Reading, 25, 544–549.

23.

Vaughan

J. L.

(1982). Use the ConStruct procedure to foster active reading and listening. Journal of Reading, 25, 412–422.

24.

Wallbank

T. W.

Taylor

A. M.

Carson

G. B.

Mancall

(1969). Civilization past and present. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman and Co.