Sonya Symons

Strategy Instruction for Elementary Students Searching Informational Text

Children were taught to be strategic and to monitor their success while searching for information in text. In the first study, 180 children were randomly assigned to receive strategy instruction with monitoring, strategy instruction only, or no instruction. Grade 3 children who were taught the strategy without monitoring instruction were more successful than control children, whereas Grade 4 and Grade 5 students benefitted from instruction only when they were also encouraged to monitor their performance. In the second study, Grade 3 and Grade 4 students transferred the strategy to an unfamiliar informational book. The third study examined category selection and extraction components of the strategy to find again additive effects of all three components.

Locating Discrete Information in Text: Effects of Computer Presentation and Menu Formatting

Locating information is a major component of student and adult reading. Dreher and Guthrie (1987) examined locating information in a text chapter presented via a microcomputer. The present experiment attempted to determine if there were differences in locating discrete information in printed versus computerized text. Possible differences may have been caused by method of presentation (computer vs. printed page) or the presence or absence of a menu at the front of the text. This menu presented areas of the text that could be searched (e.g., table of contents, text, glossary, and index). Eighty undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory psychology course attempted to find answers to six factual questions in text presented via either medium. Computer search tended to be more time consuming and less efficient than printed text search. No differences were found between computer and text conditions in total number of correct answers located. Computer groups searched the glossary more often than printed text groups. Possible explanations for these results are discussed and implications for future research are drawn.

INCLUDING BOTH TIME AND ACCURACY IN DEFINING TEXT SEARCH EFFICIENCY

Factors related to efficiency in a textbook search task were examined. Previous definitions of search efficiency have used time as the only index in defining efficiency. The present study used a definition that included both time and accuracy. One hundred and twenty-nine university students searched for answers to eight low-inference questions in an earth science textbook and were administered the verbal section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Time and accuracy involved distinct processes; accuracy was related to verbal competence. Measures of planning and extracting information accounted for 59% of the variance in search efficiency. Both accuracy and rate need to be included in defining text search efficiency.

Using the Inter- and Intranet in a university introductory psychology course to promote active learning

This paper reports on how a university introductory psychology course was restructured after a campuswide information technology program was introduced at a small Canadian university. Our use of the campus Intranet and the Internet resulted in a technology-enhanced lecture environment, greater student exchange of ideas, greater and more efficient communication between the instructor and students, and more writing assignments than are typical of first year psychology courses. Evidence of success came from increased grades on examinations, positive course evaluations, and an increase in the numbers of students declaring psychology as their major. Technology was helpful in implementing aspects of undergraduate education that promote active learning.