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Updated: Jun 15, 2026
12:55
Multimodal Protocol for Assessing Metacognition and Self-Regulation in Adults with Learning Difficulties
Published on: September 27, 2020
Strategies to read and learn: overcoming learning by consumption
1Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee 38152, USA. dsmcnamara1@gmail.com
Medical Education
|March 19, 2010
Summary
Students need explicit instruction in comprehension strategies and cognitive challenges to build deep, interconnected knowledge. This approach moves beyond rote memorization for more stable and coherent learning.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Educational Psychology
- Learning Sciences
Background:
- Effective learning requires more than memorizing facts; students must build deep, interconnected knowledge.
- Developing deep knowledge involves generating inferences and explanations to link new information with prior knowledge.
Purpose of the Study:
- To discuss the necessity and effectiveness of teaching comprehension strategies.
- To explore cognitive disequilibrium as a method for inducing strategy use and deeper learning.
Main Methods:
- Challenging students with cohesion gaps in texts or lectures to prompt inference generation.
- Providing explicit instruction and practice in comprehension strategies, potentially through intelligent tutoring systems like iSTART.
Main Results:
- High-knowledge readers can successfully generate inferences to bridge conceptual gaps, leading to deeper understanding.
- Instruction in comprehension strategies, rather than simply informing students, is crucial for scaffolding ideal learning.
Conclusions:
- Deep learning is fostered by actively constructing knowledge through inference and strategy use.
- Cognitive challenges and explicit strategy instruction are effective means to promote deeper, more stable student understanding.
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