| dc.description.abstract | A number of constructs of importance to education, including meaning, comprehension, and retrieval, may be defined in terms of node-link models of long term memory structure. More importantly, such models suggest techniques whereby the processes of information selection, comprehension, and retrieval may be facilitated. The primary purpose of the present research was the development and assessment of one such technique, the Node Acquisition and Integration Technique (NAIT). Preliminary research showed that subjects who described relationships existing between pairs of instructor-selected concepts acquired cognitive structures (assessed through multidimensional scaling analyses) considerably more like those of experts than did subjects who simply defined the concepts. However, a need was seen to exist for a more structured method of generating these relationship descriptions. NAIT was developed in response to this need for structure. In the first of four components comprising NAIT, "key" or important concepts are selected by the instructor from material to be learned. In the second component, relationship-guided definition, students perform a relationship- guided search of the material for Information serving to define the key concepts in six aspects of definition. A similar relationship-guided memory search directs retrieval at the time of testing. The third component, elaboration, involves generation of Images, examples, applications, etc., of the key concepts and their definitions. Finally, students perform relationship-guided comparisons of definitions of instructor-selected pairs of key concepts, leading to descriptions of relationships existing between these concepts. The results of Experiment I, conducted to pilot test NAIT training materials, indicated that, relative to a no-treatment control, NAIT training promoted comprehension and retention of academic-like materials as well as the formation of cognitive structures like those of experts. These results, while limited in reliability by the small number of subjects used In Experiment I, were sufficiently encouraging to call for a more thorough evaluation of NAIT. Experiment II was designed to provide this evaluation. Experiment II, conducted as an integral part of a general psychology course, compared NAIT-trained subjects, subjects trained in an alternative study strategy (Networking), and no-treatment control subjects on five course-required examinations and one unannounced test of long term comprehension and retention. In addition, short quizzes were administered to NAIT-trained subjects prior to and following training in each NAIT component to provide within-group assessments of the effectiveness of each of these components. These comparisons provided some support for NAIT's effectiveness in enhancing comprehension and retention, despite the presence of several procedural factors suspected to have reduced observed effectiveness. Of greatest importance was the finding that NAIT-trained subjects showed significantly greater long term retention at one level of questioning than was found among no-treatment control subjects. A secondary goal of Experiment II, the evaluation of relationships between eight Individual difference measures and ability to learn to use NAIT components, was successfully achieved. Two individual difference factor scores were found to predict significant proportions of variance in the quality of NAIT study materials completed in preparation for course-required examinations. Finally, modifications of NAIT and NAIT evaluation procedures were suggested which are expected to boost the efficiency of NAIT, make it teacher-independent, and increase the probability of observing positive effects of NAIT In future evaluative studies. | |
