Counteracting detrimental effects of misconceptions on learning and metacomprehension accuracy: The utility of refutation texts and think sheets

Previous research has shown that misconceptions impair not only learners’ text comprehension and knowledge transfer but also the accuracy with which they predict their comprehension and transfer. In the present experiment with N = 92 university students, we investigated to what extent reading a refutation text or completing a think sheet compared with a control condition counteracts these adverse effects of misconceptions. The results revealed that both reading a refutation text and completing a think sheet supported learners with misconceptions in acquiring and accurately predicting their comprehension. Completing a think sheet additionally supported the learners in transferring their newly acquired knowledge, even though they were underconfident in their ability to do so. Moreover, learners who completed a think sheet were generally more accurate in discriminating between correctly and incorrectly answered test questions. Finally, delayed testing showed that the learning effects were quite stable, independent of the instructional method. This study reinforces the effectiveness of refutation texts and think sheets and provides important practical implications and avenues for future research.

To What Extent Do Situation-Model-Approach Interventions Improve Relative Metacomprehension Accuracy? Meta-Analytic Insights

This meta-analysis investigated the extent to which relative metacomprehension accuracy can be increased by interventions that aim to support learners’ use of situation-model cues as a basis for judging their text comprehension. These interventions were delayed-summary writing, delayed-keywords listing, delayed-diagram completion, self-explaining, concept mapping, rereading, and setting a comprehension-test expectancy. First, the general effectiveness of situation-model-approach interventions was examined. The results revealed that, across 28 effect sizes (comprising a total of 2,236 participants), situation-model-approach interventions exerted a medium positive effect (g = 0.46) on relative metacomprehension accuracy. Second, the interventions were examined individually. The results showed that, with the exception of self-explaining, each intervention had a significant positive effect on relative metacomprehension accuracy. Yet, there was a tendency for setting a comprehension-test expectancy to be particularly effective. A further meta-analysis on comprehension in the selected studies revealed that, overall, the situation-model-approach interventions were also beneficial for directly improving comprehension, albeit the effect was small. Taken together, the findings demonstrate the utility of situation-model-approach interventions for supporting self-regulated learning from texts.