An Experimental Study On The Effect Of Cognition-Strategy-Based Instruction On Text Information Search Among College Students

The thesis deals with the study of the effect of cognitive strategy instruction on text information search by college students. Guthrie and Mosenthal’s (1987) cognitive model of text search has provided a framework to understand and examine the cognitive processes underlying the ability to search for and locate information in text. Locating information includes a number of steps, complete with 1) goal formation,2) selecting appropriate categories,3), extracting of information,4) integrating of information with prior knowledge and the search question,5) recycling through cognitive steps until the goal of search has been met. Using Guthrie and Mosenthal’s cognitive model as a guide, this study examined the effects of strategies-based instruction on a sample of 75 sophomores. Students who were randomly assigned to one of five groups, were given different combinations of category selection, extraction, and integration instruction. The five groups involved the category selection, extraction and integration groups, the category selection and extraction groups, the category selection and integration groups, and the category selection group only, and the control group with no instructional intervention.To test the effect of teaching students to use strategies affected by the Guthrie’s cognitive stages of text search, we used a method of Direct Instruction similar to that of Baumann, to guide the instructional protocol. Search behaviors of the participants with the test search tasks were observed and recorded by the writer, and search performance was assessed in the accuracy of the response and the efficiency with the located answers.Results from the present study suggested that students who received the category selection and extraction and integration instruction were more effective than those who received the category selection instruction only and the other instructional group. Moreover, findings from the study indicated that cognitive strategy instruction improved textbook search, but only category selection instruction was an insufficient intervention. In addition, students who received integration instructional groups were more accurate in reading than those in the control group. Therefore, integration instruction, a key metacognitive skill, played an important role in improving students’ ability to search success. These results indicated that increased cognitive processing at specific and identifiable stages of text search can lead to improvement in search performance or strategy use. A simple instructional intervention can have significant effect on search performance, which stresses the significance of systematically teaching students the cognitive stages of search and the strategies that could be used to affect search performance at each stage. These findings have significant implications for our understanding of Guthrie and Mosenthal’s cognitive model of text search and for the instruction of text search strategies in the university.