Comprehension processes and outcomes with refutation and expository texts and their contribution to learning

Abstract The study compared the comprehension processes and outcomes obtained with refutation and expository text and their association with learning outcomes. After a knowledge pretest, undergraduate students read an extended expository text or a corresponding refutation text that addressed three potential misconceptions about the scientific concept of energy. Think-aloud, cued recall, and posttest data indicated that the positive impact of refutation text was more associated with comprehension outcomes than processes. Refutation text did not influence comprehension processes but facilitated valid inference generation in recall and minimized the negative effects of distortions on learning. The findings suggest the timing of the refutation text effect to be later, after reading, and its nature to be that of neutralizing the influence of any misconceptions on learning from text instead of changing them.

[1]  W. Kintsch.  The role of knowledge in discourse comprehension: a construction-integration model. , 1988, Psychological review.

[2]  Susan R. Goldman,et al.  Students making sense of informational text: Relations between processing and representation , 1998 .

[3]  R. Hunt.  Two contributions of distinctive processing to accurate memory , 2003 .

[4]  Shana K. Carpenter,et al.  Cue strength as a moderator of the testing effect: the benefits of elaborative retrieval. , 2009, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[5]  Panayiota Kendeou,et al.  Reader and text factors in reading comprehension processes , 2011 .

[6]  Lucia Mason,et al.  On warm conceptual change: The interplay of text, epistemological beliefs, and topic interest. , 2008 .

[7]  Matthew T. McCrudden.  Readers' Use of Online Discrepancy Resolution Strategies , 2012 .

[8]  Paul van den Broek,et al.  The Effects of Readers' Misconceptions on Comprehension of Scientific Text , 2005 .

[9]  P. Broek,et al.  The effects of prior knowledge and text structure on comprehension processes during reading of scientific texts , 2007, Memory & cognition.

[10]  David Palmer,et al.  Investigating the relationship between refutational text and conceptual change , 2003 .

[11]  Irene-Anna N. Diakidoy,et al.  Comprehension and Learning from Refutation and Expository Texts. , 2011 .

[12]  Mirjamaija Mikkilä-Erdmann,et al.  Improving Conceptual Change Concerning Photosynthesis through Text Design. , 2001 .

[13]  Suzanne H. Broughton,et al.  Bridging Reading Comprehension and Conceptual Change in Science Education: The Promise of Refutation Text , 2011 .

[14]  Mirjamaija Mikkilä-Erdmann,et al.  Conceptual Change, Text Comprehension and Eye Movements During Reading , 2013 .

[15]  Jason L. G. Braasch,et al.  The influences of text and reader characteristics on learning from refutations in science texts. , 2013 .

[16]  Katherine A. Rawson,et al.  How does knowledge promote memory? The distinctiveness theory of skilled memory. , 2008 .

[17]  Jeffrey D. Karpicke.  Retrieval-Based Learning , 2012 .

[18]  Martin Riopel,et al.  Differences in Brain Activation between Novices and Experts in Science during a Task Involving a Common Misconception in Electricity. , 2014 .

[19]  Irene-Anna N. Diakidoy,et al.  Reading about energy: The effects of text structure in science learning and conceptual change , 2003 .

[20]  Edward J. O'Brien,et al.  Knowledge Revision Processes in Refutation Texts , 2014 .

[21]  W. Kintsch,et al.  Are Good Texts Always Better? Interactions of Text Coherence, Background Knowledge, and Levels of Understanding in Learning From Text , 1996 .

[22]  Michael B. W. Wolfe,et al.  Relations Between Adolescents' Text Processing and Reasoning , 2005 .

[23]  Ralph E. Reynolds,et al.  The Nature of the Refutation Text Effect: An Investigation of Attention Allocation , 2010 .

[24]  Joseph P. Magliano,et al.  Chapter 9 Toward a Comprehensive Model of Comprehension , 2009 .

[25]  B. Zimmerman.  Academic studing and the development of personal skill: A self-regulatory perspective , 1998 .

[26]  William F. Brewer,et al.  The Role of Anomalous Data in Knowledge Acquisition: A Theoretical Framework and Implications for Science Instruction , 1993 .

[27]  Nicola Ariasi,et al.  Uncovering the effect of text structure in learning from a science text: An eye-tracking study , 2011 .

[28]  James W. Pellegrino,et al.  The importance of constructive comprehension processes in learning from tests , 2013 .

[29]  Héctor García-Rodicio,et al.  Using Online Measures to Determine How Learners Process Instructional Explanations. , 2013 .

[30]  P. Broek,et al.  Cognitive Processes in Comprehension of Science Texts : The Role of Co-Activation in Confronting Misconceptions , 2008 .