Use small-group discussion of a phenomenon-describing problem before text study to bridge prior knowledge and new information¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 5 claims (5 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q3 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 5 claims rest on one study

Description¶

Small groups of learners are given a description of natural phenomena and asked to explain them in terms of underlying processes, principles, or mechanisms before reading a relevant expository text. The article concludes that "activation of prior knowledge through small-group discussion of a problem can be a successful instructional strategy for bridging the gap between what is already known or can be inferred about a subject and new information to be learned." An experimenter acts as chairperson, summarizing viewpoints without supplying information.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• A problem description of natural phenomena whose explanation requires the target concepts; a text presented only after the discussion; a chairperson who questions for clarification and summarizes without providing the underlying mechanisms

Constraints¶

• The procedure specifically supports recall of explanatory, not descriptive, information from the text; group-process contributions to learning were not investigated in the article

Target Learners¶

• secondary school and college students in science domains

Target Learning Goals¶

• acquisition of causal, explanatory concepts from expository text

Affordances¶

• Prior Knowledge Activation Explanatory Model Theory

Claims¶

• While discussing a problem, learners actively construct situation-specific explanatory models from prior knowledge rather than merely reproducing what they know [+W]
• Novices and experts differ in problem representation: novices segment the problem and use surface analogies, while experts apply general underlying principles [+W]
• Analyzing a problem before reading facilitates subsequent recall of a relevant text for both novices and experts [+W]
• Problem analysis through small-group discussion particularly stimulates the production of explanatory propositions, via a significant treatment-by-proposition-type interaction [+W]
• The text-recall benefit of problem analysis is confined to explanatory propositions; descriptive facts are not better remembered [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• The Title (Pre-Reading)
• Purpose (Pre-Reading)
• Predicting

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Schmidt, H. G., De Volder, M. L., De Grave, W. S., Moust, J. H. C., & Patel, V. L. (1989). Explanatory Models in the Processing of Science Text: The Role of Prior Knowledge Activation Through Small-Group Discussion. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81(4), 610-619. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-0663.81.4.610