Self-Explanation Reading Training: Effects for Low-Knowledge Readers

Self-Explanation Reading Training: Effects for Low-Knowledge Readers Tenaha O’Reilly (t.oreilly@mail.psyc.memphis.edu) Rachel Best (r.best@mail.psyc.memphis.edu) Danielle S. McNamara (d.mcnamara@ mail.psyc.memphis.edu) Psychology Department, University of Memphis Memphis, TN 38152 USA Abstract This study examined the effects of self-explanation reading strategy training (SERT) and Preview training on high-school students’ comprehension of a science text. The students (n=136) were from a middle to lower SES, inner-city Virginia high school. They were assessed in terms of their science knowledge and reading skill. Nine biology classes were then randomly assigned to SERT, Preview, or Control conditions. Science comprehension was assessed both immediately after training and after a one-week interval. The results indicated that after the one-week retention interval, SERT participants outperformed both Preview and Control participants on passage comprehension. This comprehension advantage was particularly enhanced for low-knowledge readers. This result replicates with high-school student findings reported by McNamara (in press) with college students. Introduction Many high-school students encounter difficulties comprehending their textbooks, particularly those covering scientific material (Bowen, 1999; Snow, 2002). Problems with comprehension can occur for a variety of reasons. One source of difficulty occurs from text specific factors, such as text cohesion (Beck, McKeown & Gromoll, 1989; McNamara, Kintsch, Songer, & Kintsch, 1996). Another source of problems stems from the reader’s aptitudes. Of course, efficient decoding abilities are necessary for the reader to understand the words in the sentences (e.g., Perfetti, 1985). However, comprehension difficulties also occur even for readers who understand the words. These comprehension problems can emerge from the inability to draw inferences (e.g., Long, Oppy, & Seely, 1994) and the failure to apply other higher-level reading skills, such as meta-cognitive reading strategies (Cornoldi & Oakhill, 1996). The recent RAND report on Reading for Understanding (Snow, 2002) documents the pressing need to improve reading comprehension. The RAND report also provides a useful heuristic for conceptualizing reading comprehension, which includes four interactive components: Characteristics of the text, the reader, the comprehension activities, and the socio- cultural context. Accordingly, these factors rarely operate in isolation, and as such, potential interactions between attributes associated with these factors need to be considered in order to develop a more complete understanding of reading comprehension processes. In terms of text characteristics, research has shown that the structure of the text plays a major role in comprehension. For example, in an analysis of the cohesion of social studies texts, Beck et al. (1989) found that many texts have structures that are far from optimal in terms of promoting deep comprehension. Texts often present too much information with too little detail, contain loose unconnected statements, and have poor integration with previous sections. Overall, the manner in which many informational texts are written present challenges for comprehension. The knowledge and skills readers bring into the reading situation play an important role in the comprehension of informational texts (McNamara & Kintsch, 1996; Voss & Silfies, 1996). For example, Voss and Silfies found that prior knowledge helps the reader spell out causal links between concepts, whereas reading skill contributes to a better textbase understanding. Indeed, other research has shown that conceptual gaps in text are most easily repaired with domain knowledge (McNamara et al, 1996; cf. McNamara, in press). Comprehension activities, or the use of higher level reading strategies, also have a major impact on learning (Pressley, Wood, Woloshyn, Martin, King, & Menke, 1992). For example, Chi, De Leeuw, Chiu, and LaVancher (1994) have found positive learning gains for a technique called self-explanation. Students who were asked to explain what they learned from a biology text made more inferences, integrated more information across topics, and developed a deeper understanding of the text than did Control students. Similarly, McNamara (in press; McNamara & Scott, 1999) developed a comprehensive reading strategy intervention called self-explanation reading strategy training (SERT). SERT helps improve comprehension by encouraging students to make use of various reading