ERIC ED355490: Self-Questioning Prediction Strategy's Effect on Comprehension.

35 Pages·1993·0.39 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 355 490
CS 011 237
AUTHOR
Charmello, Catherine
TITLE
Self-Questioning Prediction Strategy's
Effect on
Comprehension.
PUB DATE
93
NOTE
35p.; M.A. Thesis, Kean College of
New Jersey.
PUB TYPE
Dissertations/Theses
Masters Theses (042)
EDRS PRICE
MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.
DESCRIPTORS
Grade 8; *Instructional Effectiveness;
Junior High
Schools; Metacognition; Middle
Schools; *Questioning
Techniques; *Reading Comprehension;
Reading
Improvement; Reading Strategies
IDENTIFIERS
Gates MacGinitie Reading Tests; Middle
School
Students; South Amboy City School
District NJ; T
Test
ABSTRACT
A study examined the effects that
a metacognitive
strategy, self-questioning prediction,
had on the improvement of
reading comprehension. The
sample included 17 eighth-grade
students
in a South Amboy, New Jersey
middle school. The Gates MacGinitie
Reading Comprehension Tests
were administered as both pre- and
posttests. There were three weekly
sessions each cona.isting of
two
38-minute periods of instruction.
After the posttest was given,
a
t-test was used to determine whether
or not a significant difference
would be found between the
means of the tests. The t analysis
indicated that the self-questioning
prediction strategy had made
a
positive but not a significant
difference in improving comprehension.
(One table of data is included;
a list of the five steps of the
self-questioning prediction
strategy, and an appendix of data
are
attached.) (Contains 36 references.)
(Author/RS)
***********************************************************************
Reproductions supplied by EDRS
are the best that can be made
from the original document.
**********************************************************************
SELF-QUESTIONING PREDICTION
STRATEGY'S EFFECT ON
COMPREHENSION
by
Catherine Charmello
Submitted in partial
fulfillment
of the requirements
for the degree of
Master of Arts
Kean College of New
Jersey
1993
U.S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS
Once of Eciocationai Research and improvement
MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY
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CENTER tERICI
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,
received from the person or organization
originating it
C Minor changes nave been made to Improve
BUT COPY AVAILABLE
reproduction quality
Points of new or offinions stated in thiS
00f. u
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
went CIO not necessarily represent official
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)."
OERI posttion or policy
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this research is to examine
the effects
a metacognitive strategy, self-questioning prediction,
has
on the improvement of reading comprehension.
The sample
included seventeen (17) eighth grade students.
The Gates
MacGinite Reading Comprehension Tests
were administered as
both pre and post tests.
There were six thirty-eight minute
periods of instruction.
Each session consisted of two
thirty-eight minute periods.
Each session was one week
apart.
After the posttest c'as given,
a t test was used to
determine the significance of differencesbetween
the mean of
the tests.
The t analysis indicated that the
self-questioning prediction strategy had
made a positive but
not a significant difference in improving
comprehension.
Implications of the findings for future
research is
discussed.
Acknowledgement
I dedicate this paper to
my parents who instilled my
thirst for knowledge, to
my husband who was the "Wind
Beneath my Wings," and to
my children who are always here
for me.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract
I.
ii
II.
Acknowledgement
iii
III.
Table of Contents
iv
List of Tables
IV.
V.
Article
1.
A. Introduction
1
Procedures
B.
5
Results
C.
7
D.
Conclusions and Implications
8
VI.
Article 2
Review of Related Literature
10
A.
Factors in Improving Reading
Comprehension
11
Strategy Learning
B.
12
C.
Specific Strategies
14
D.
Self-Questioning Prediction
Strategy
21
VII.
References
23
VIII.
Appendices
27
A.
Self-Questioning Prediction
Strategy
28
Raw Data
B.
29
iv
r_-
)
List of Tables
Self-questioning Prediction Strategy's Effects
Table I.
on Students' Comprehension
8
According to Vaccc. and Vacca (1989), the knowledge
students bring to learning has important implications for
ccntent area reading and that schema theory is important in
These researchers
both reading and language comprehension.
previous knowledge and
say comprehension involves activating
They see textbooks as
matching it with the new message.
structured writings, and they claim readers must work with
print in order to build meaning.
Davis(1972) concluded that reading comprehension is not
There.'s a composite of five mental
a single mental process.
recalling word meanings, finding literal
skills:
information, inference, recognizing a writer's purpose, and
following structure.
On the other hand, Vacca and Vacca (1989) said reading
The comprehension process
is greater than the subskills.
may indeed be a composite of skills, but the skills are so
interactive that they can not be separated from one another
They claim the skillful use of
during reading "(p.21),
reading to learn is one of the most important goals of
reading instruction.
Reading professionals' concerns for content area
Smith and Feathers (1983) argued that
reading is evident.
strategies are needed for students to understand content
materials.
2
Many researchers have used strategies to try to raise
Flood (1986) said that comprehension is
comprehension.
Readers create the meaning.
interactive and constructive.
He claimed that children need to make the transition into
expository text through direct instruction by the teacher
He asserted, "Children need to be taught directly how to
comprehend by being shown how, when, and why to use
comprehension strategies.
Champney (1989) concluded that students can read to
learn with reading strategies.
Strategy interventions are
used to show the students.
Graves, Cooke, and Laberge (1983) found that the
previewing strategy significantly increased factual and
inferential comprehension.
Deshler, Schumaker, Alley, Warner, and Clark (1982)
found that older learning disabled students had academic
deficits which made them unable to cope with the secondary
school curriculum.
The University of Kansas Institute for
Research in Learning Disabilities (KU-IRLD).adopted a
learning strategies approach as the core component cf an
intervention model, "Strategies Intervention Model."
According to Deshler and Schumaker (1984)
there are
,
three major rationales to a learning strategies approach.
3
First, the development and application of metacognitive
skills is related to age; older students do better-
Second,
students who learn how to learn will learn new skills more
rapidly. Lastly, a strategy intervention approach requires
students to take responsibility.
Self-questioning when it is used in conjunction with
other strategies fosters reading comprehension.
This
treatment increases students' abilities to use these
strategies on materials other than those used in the
instructional program (Palincsar and Brown, 1984).
There is significant evidence that middle school
students have poor comprehension skills.
It has been
asserted that if we can teach these students how to
comprehend their content area materials, then the students
will be more successful learners.
Hvpothesis
To provide evidence on this topic, the.following study
was undertaken: a self-questioning prediction strategy was
developed for students to -use as a metacognitive plan
to
attack new material.
It was hypothesized that middle school
students' comprehension skills would not show significant
4
benefit from the use of a self-questioning prediction
strategy.
Sample
The subjects in this study consisted of seventeen (17)
eighth graders heterogenously grouped according to.the
California Achievement Test given In March, 1992.
Two were
classified special education-resource room, three were
receiving compensatory education instruction, six were grade
level, and six were above grade level.
All were students of
South Amboy Middle School, South Amboy, New Jersey whose
total population was 194 in grades from sixth through
The socio-economic backgrounds included
eighth.
predominatly
a blue collar working class with a
lower-middle class income.
Measuring Instrument
The Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests Survey E was the
measuring instrument employed.
The test was developed by
Arthur Gates and Walter H. Mac Ginitie.
The Comprehension subtest was given in different forms,
1 and 2, as a pre and posttest to obtain an estimate of the
students' comprehension ability.
Twenty-five minutes were
allotted for this test.
This test measured the students'
10