ERIC Number: EJ970921
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Oct
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0959-4752
EISSN: N/A
Differential-Associative Processing or Example Elaboration: Which Strategy Is Best for Learning the Definitions of Related and Unrelated Concepts?
Hannon, Brenda
Learning and Instruction, v22 n5 p299-310 Oct 2012
Definitions of related concepts (e.g., "genotype-phenotype") are prevalent in introductory classes. Consequently, it is important that educators and students know which strategy(s) work best for learning them. This study showed that a new comparative elaboration strategy, called differential-associative processing, was better for learning definitions of related concepts than was an integrative elaborative strategy, called example elaboration. This outcome occurred even though example elaboration was administered in a naturalistic way (Experiment 1) and students spent more time in the example elaboration condition learning (Experiments 1, 2, 3), and generating pieces of information about the concepts (Experiments 2 and 3). Further, with unrelated concepts ("morpheme-fluid intelligence"), performance was similar regardless if students used differential-associative processing or example elaboration (Experiment 3). Taken as a whole, these results suggest that differential-associative processing is better than example elaboration for learning definitions of related concepts and is as good as example elaboration for learning definitions of unrelated concepts. (Contains 4 tables.)
Descriptors: Definitions, Learning Strategies, Educational Experiments, Cognitive Processes, Comparative Analysis, Instructional Effectiveness, Introductory Courses
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A