Enhancing Comprehension Skill and Self-Efficacy with Strategy Value Information

Abstract

Two experiments investigated how providing remedial readers with information that strategy use improves performance influenced their self-efficacy and comprehension skill. In both studies, children were given training on finding main ideas, Children in Experiment received specific strategy value information, general strategy value information, specific plus general (combined) information, or no strategy value information. In Experiment 2, children received strategy effectiveness feedback, specific strategy value information, or feedback plus specific (combined) information. In each study, the combined treatment enhanced self-efficacy and skill better than the other conditions, which did not differ. These results suggest that remedial readers may not benefit much from minimal information on how strategy use can improve performance. Multiple sources of strategy value information may be necessary to enhance self-efficacy and comprehension skill. Article: Children's use of cognitive strategies, or systematic plans oriented toward improving performance, typically increases with age and task experience (Brown, 1980; Brown, Campione, & Day, 1981; Flavell, 1985; Myers & Paris, 1978). A strategic approach to reading comprehension includes activities such as understanding the task demands, monitoring one's level of comprehension, and taking corrective action (e.g., rereading) when failures are detected. Research shows that students with strategic deficiencies can benefit from explicit training on reading strategies (Paris, Cross, & Lipson, 1984; Raphael & McKinney, 1983). At the same time, strategy training does not ensure that children will continue to use the strategy when no longer required to do so (Borkowski & Cavanaugh, 1979; Kramer & Engle, 1981). Failure to employ a strategy may result partly from the belief that, although the strategy is useful, it is not as important for success as are such factors as time available or effort expended (Fabricius & Hagen, 1984). To promote continued strategy use, researchers have suggested providing students with strategy value information, or information that strategy use can improve performance (Borkowski & Cavanaugh, 1979; Brown et al., 1981; Paris, Lipson, & Wixson, 1983). Some ways to convey strategy value are to instruct children to use the strategy because it will help them perform better, to inform them that strategy use benefited other students, and to provide them with feedback linking strategy use with their performance improvements (

Learning Goals and Progress Feedback during Reading Comprehension Instruction

“…The reliability of the efficacy measure was assessed in prior research (Schunk & Rice, 1987) with subjects comparable in age and reading skills to those in the present study. The test-retest reliability coefficient was r= .82.…”

“…These parallel forms were used on the pretest and posttest to eliminate potential effects due to passage familiarity. Reliability was assessed during a previous study (Schunk & Rice, 1987); subjects' scores on these parallel forms correlated r= .87.…”

“…Telling students they are learning the strategy informs them of progress and implies that the strategy is helping them answer questions. Such explicit feedback has beneficial effects on remedial readers' self-efficacy and skills (Schunk & Rice, 1987).…”

Self-efficacy and achievement behaviors

“…Researchers suggest providing students with strategy value information on how strategy use improves performance (Borkowski and Cavanaugh, 1979). Two experiments showed that strategy value information enhances self-efficacy (Schunk and Rice, 1987). Subjects were taught a strategy to find main ideas.…”

Differences in Reading Self-Efficacy between School Years and according to Gender // Diferencias en la auto-eficacia lectora entre cursos en la escolaridad y en función del género

“…In other cases, perceptions of reading self-efficacy take into account just one dimension of the several involved in comprehension, such as identification of the main ideas in a text (What is the main idea of the first paragraph? ), as in Schunk and Rice (1987). Alternatively, as in Anmarkrud and Bräten's (2009) revised version of the MRQ, they assess pupils' beliefs about their capacity to comprehend a text (It is easy for me to understand the content of a book), without looking at the various processes involved in reading comprehension.…”