An investigation of the effects of a summarization strategy and the effects of a summarization strategy with a self-monitoring component on the recall of LD middle school students
Abstract
The purpose of this three group experimental investigation was (a) to determine whether the use of a summarization strategy would improve the recall and transfer skills of middle school LD students, and (b) to determine whether the use of a summarization strategy with a self-monitoring component would be more effective than the strategy alone. Each treatment was compared with a traditional treatment condition. Subjects in this research were 45 middle school LD students, all referred by teacher as students having comprehension difficulties. Students were individually trained for two days using narrative passages. Following training, students were administered a posttest of training and two transfer measures of recall. Additionally, each student was interviewed prior to instruction, during instruction, and following instruction concerning the use of strategies to remember salient information from textbooks. Recall results were analyzed using ANOVA and demonstrated the strength of the strategy instruction for all measures. Further, although not statistically significant on all measures, the results indicated that the addition of the monitoring component further enhanced recall on these measures. The LD students in this experiment reported limited knowledge of strategies to help them recall important information prior to intervention. Strategy and performance feedback provided during instruction resulted in a statistically significant improvement in strategy use reports of the two treatment conditions. The results of this study indicate that LD middle school students may benefit from specific instruction in the important skill of summarization. They may also benefit from being instructed to monitor their comprehension activities. Providing LD middle school students with information and practice in recognizing and using appropriate strategies may further enhance recall of important textual material.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Mastropieri, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Special education
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