Examining the effects of classroom discussion on students’ comprehension of text: A meta-analysis.

Abstract

The role of classroom discussions in comprehension and learning has been the focus of investigations since the early 1960s. Despite this long history, no syntheses have quantitatively reviewed the vast body of literature on classroom discussions for their effects on students' comprehension and learning. This comprehensive meta-analysis of empirical studies was conducted to examine evidence of the effects of classroom discussion on measures of teacher and student talk and on individual student comprehension and critical-thinking and reasoning outcomes. Results revealed that several discussion approaches produced strong increases in the amount of student talk and concomitant reductions in teacher talk, as well as substantial improvements in text comprehension. Few approaches to discussion were effective at increasing students' literal or inferential comprehension and critical thinking and reasoning. Effects were moderated by study design, the nature of the outcome measure, and student academic ability. While the range of ages of participants in the reviewed studies was large, a majority of studies were conducted with students in 4th through 6th grades. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Improving students’ narrative comprehension through a multiple strategy approach. Effects of Dialogic Strategy Instruction in secondary school.

“…Taylor, Pearson, Clark, & Walpole, 1999) and small-scale, experimental studies (Saunders & Goldenberg, 1999) have linked higher-level discussions to better performance on measures of reading comprehension. An important insight in this respect is that it is not the amount of talk but the kind of talk that promotes comprehension (Murphy et al, 2009).…”

“…Although attention to the role of classroom dialogue goes all the way back to the 1860s (Nystrand, 2006), research on how structured discussions may 'scaffold' (Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976) higher-order thinking about texts has provided a number of new insights. For example, allowing conflicting perspectives to meet, open-ended (or authentic) questioning and dialogue may support student reflections on alternative interpretations and encourage them to elaborate on their understandings in ways that foster narrative comprehension (Applebee et al, 2003;Murphy, Wilkinson, Soter, Hennessey, & Alexander, 2009;Nystrand, 2006). In addition, both large-scale, observational studies (c.f.…”

The Impact of Philosophical Inquiry Method on Classroom Engagement and Reasoning Skills of Low Achievers

“…Dialogue is the most significant procedure of philosophical inquiry method. Studies demonstrate that dialogue is an effective tool to stimulate classroom engagement (Rubin, 2006;Murphy, Wilkinson, Soter, Hennessey, & Alexander, 2009;Walker, Wartenberg, & Winner, 2012;Slakmon & Schwartz, 2014;Gillies, 2015).…”

Navigating between disorder and control: Challenges and choices when teaching reading strategies in the L1 classroom

“…On the basis of such an approach, students must then be given the opportunity to engage with both teachers and other students on meaningful content, in order to learn and develop. Especially conversations about texts are seen as particularly beneficial to students' reading skills in that teachers and students can pool their different readings and let them go into dialogue against each other in the classroom (Murphy et al, 2009;Nystrand et al, 1997;Soter et al, 2008). In addition to being an arena for curriculum-driven education, the classroom is also a place where students build relationships and form their identities in interaction with each other and the teacher.…”

“…Empirical studies indicate in various ways that dialogue-based reading instruction, involving discussions about texts and other collectively-based teaching methods, is beneficial to students' reading ability in multiple ways (Applebee et al, 2003;Gamoran & Nystrand, 1991;Murphy et al, 2009;Nystrand et al, 1997;Soter et al, 2008). A majority of the studies on discussions about texts in classrooms are studies that focus on literature discussions.…”