Reconstructive Elaborations: A Model for Content Area Learning

Abstract

Past research has documented the effectiveness of various elaborative techniques, such as the keyword method, in facilitating the initial acquisition and retention of isolated facts. However, little research exists in which different elaborative techniques have been incorporated within a comprehensive model for teaching all relevant information within a specific curricular domain. In the present investigation, a system of reconstructive elaborations was developed to adapt elaborative systems to different levels of concreteness of information as well as different levels of meaningfulness (or familiarity) to the learner. Such elaborations were developed for textbook information on World War I. This information was then taught individually to 30 mildly handicapped adolescents, who had been assigned at random to experimental or control conditions. Students in the experimental condition outperformed students in the control condition by a factor of nearly 2:1 on an immediate production test, and maintained a statistically significant advantage over a 3-4 day delay interval on an identification test. Implications for content area instruction of difficult-to-teach students are provided.