ERIC Number: EJ682448
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004
Pages: 27
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0270-2711
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Available Date: N/A
Facilitating Textual Integration with Macro-Structure Focusing Tasks
Britt, M. Anne; Sommer, Jodie
Reading Psychology an international quarterly, v25 n4 p313-339 2004
Students are often asked to integrate information derived from reading multiple documents into a consistent story or model. Based on models of comprehending individual text, we predict that the structure and accessibility of earlier texts should influence one's ability to integrate a new text with previously learned material. In two experiments, we examined the facilitating effect of macro-structure focusing tasks on the integration of information from two texts. Experiment 1 found that having participants summarize a text before reading a subsequent text enhanced integration. Experiment 2 found that both answering macro-level questions and reading instructions to integrate resulted in a more integrated final representation.
Descriptors: Prior Learning, Reading Comprehension, Textbooks, Cognitive Processes, Reading Materials, College Students, Higher Education, Teaching Methods, Text Structure
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Numerical/Quantitative Data; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
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Author Affiliations: N/A