Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA): a student-centered reading method built on a predicting-reading-proving cycle

Design · All designs
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q3 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description

DR-TA, created by Stauffer (1969) and adapted by Tierney et al. (1995), is a student-centered reading method in which "readers through guessing overall reading content before starting to read, are able to set their reading objectives" and then read and prove predictions in a repeating cycle. The teacher acts as a facilitator, "assisting students in connecting background knowledge and new information". The article applies it with tales of virtue texts to teach English reading comprehension while raising ethical awareness.

Design Implications

Context

Requirements

• Students read segmented texts silently and are guided through prediction, silent reading, and proof questions with the teacher facilitating rather than lecturing

Constraints

Target Learners

• seventh-grade English learners

Learning Goals

• English reading comprehension
• critical thinking while reading
• ethical awareness

Claims

• Dr Ta Higher English Reading Comprehension Than Traditional [+M]
• Dr Ta Pretest Posttest Reading Gain [+M]

Related Designs

Examples

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Key Sources

• Chaemsai, R. & Rattanavich, S. (2016). The Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA) and the Traditional Approach Using Tales of Virtue based on His Majesty the King’s Teaching Concepts in Seventh Grade Students’ Reading Comprehension. English Language Teaching, 9(9). https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v9n9p18

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	design
id	dr-ta-predicting-reading-proving-cycle
title	Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA): a student-centered reading method built on a predicting-reading-proving cycle
description	DR-TA, created by Stauffer (1969) and adapted by Tierney et al.
status	review
generated	by process:settle-candidates on 2026-11-03
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources	1 — chaemsai-2016

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