Glasses have two lenses: the use of an acronymous metacognitive learning strategy to improve reading comprehension on the Internet

Abstract

This exploratory study took place in a New Zealand Intermediate School and demonstrated the use of an acronymous metacognitive learning strategy designed to improve reading comprehension outcomes for student participants reading material directly sourced on the Internet (web-text). The strategy, WWW SSURF, was formulated by the researcher from the results of existing research into reading comprehension for print-based text and web-text. The research was conducted in two phases: the original study and a replication study. In the original study two class groups used the strategy; in the replication study one class group used the strategy while a second class group did not. The original study provided evidence that uptake of the strategy elements by participants was relatively quick and that participant increased use of strategy elements persisted over a six-month period without any further specific strategy instruction or scaffolding. The replication study groups were comparable with respect to their reading comprehension of print-based text, however the group using the strategy performed much better on the reading tasks in the study than the group that did not use the strategy (effect size = 1.08). A structural equation model (SEM) model for successful reading comprehension of web-text was tested from which it was determined that the use of a metacognitive strategy for processing cognitive strategies made a greater contribution than just possession of the cognitive strategies, while the usability features of web-text, such as navigability, discourse features, presence of multi-media elements and general appearance, made a negative contribution. This thesis provides details of the WWW SSURF strategy and its implementation and articulates practical implications for the classroom practitioner using the Internet as a source of authentic materials for their participants, and questions that merit future research.