The authors outline results of 3 studies conducted to examine the structure of disciplinary knowledge from reading measured through proximity data. In Study 1, 168 third-grade students were asked to read a science text and rate the relationships of keywords from the passage. From these ratings, comprehension scores were calculated that related…

This study investigated the relationship of student-generated questions and prior knowledge with reading comprehension. A questioning hierarchy was developed to describe the extent to which student-generated questions seek different levels of conceptual understanding. Third- and fourth-grade students (N = 360) posed questions that were related to…

The role of a subject's conceptual knowledge in the procedural task of searching a text for information was studied for 51 college undergraduates in 2 experiments involving knowledge of anatomy. Students with more anatomical information were able to search a text more quickly. Educational implications are discussed. (SLD)

The relationships among prior knowledge, learning strategy use, interest, learning goals, and conceptual understanding were studied with 72 fifth graders from 3 science classrooms. In September 1996 students completed a knowledge test designed to assess their prior knowledge and conceptual understanding of ecological concepts (plant and animal…

Examined the relationship between prior knowledge, learning-strategy use, interest, learning goals, and conceptual understanding among fifth-grade science students. Results of student knowledge tests and a self-report measure of learning goals, interest, and strategy use indicated that the study variables were positively related to each other and…