Understanding the Effects of Simple Analogies on Comprehension and Metacomprehension in Geoscience

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Thursday 2:15pm
  In Poster Session: Assessing and Supporting Self-Regulated Learning Across Learning Contexts

Abstract

This study tested how including simple analogies within authentic geoscience texts affects undergraduate students’ text comprehension and the accuracy of their judgments of learning (JOLs). Undergraduates in an introductory geoscience lab read a set of texts that included analogies or did not include analogies. After reading, students made JOLs and completed comprehension tests on each topic. Students were also asked to describe what information they used to inform their JOLs to examine the impact of cue-use on JOL accuracy. Results indicated that including simple analogies harmed comprehension and metacomprehension accuracy. Overall, students who based their judgments on representation-based cues had more accurate JOLs than those who relied on heuristic cues, especially when no analogies were included in the texts.

Authors

• Allison J. Jaeger, Mississippi State University

• Micahel Poe, Mississippi State University

• Thomas Daniel Griffin, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Jennifer Wiley, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Lena Hildenbrand, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Nicole D LaDue, Northern Illinois University