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Advance organiser research
Evaluation in Education,
1960, Vol. 4, pp. 47.48.
Pergamon
ADVANCE
Press Ltd. Printed in Great Britain.
ORGANISER
M. James Kozlow
and
BC, Canada
Arthur L. White Faculty of Science
Faculty of Education, WEDGE University of British Columbia Vancouver,
RESEARCH
and
Math Education The Ohio State University
VT6 lW5
Columbia,
Ohio 15210, USA
The conclusions and recommendations presented in this paper are based on a metaanalysis of advance organiser research involving experimental comparisons of achievement for subjects receiving advance organisers with achievement for subjects who The purpose of the analysis was to identify did not receive them (Kozlow, 1978). variables which could help to interpret the apparent inconsistencies in the reported results concerning the facilitative effects of advance organisers and to provide guidelines for future research. Dissertations, journal articles, ERIC articles , and conference papers were included. Reports were not included unless they satisfied the definition of advance organisers as introductory materials designed to establish generalised concepts within cogniMaterials which have been called advance tive structure to act as subsumers. organisers but do not satisfy this definition include behavioural objectives, prevocabulary lists, and topic statements. The sample consisted of 77 test questions, reports from which 99 data sets were generated. A wide range of subject areas and grades (grade three to university) was represented. The dependent variable was a measure of the magnitude achievement means for experimental and control groups in which a positive value indicated a higher mean for 63 independent variables described characteristics of istration conditions, type of subject matter; quality characteristics of the advance organisers and learning inal research.
of the difference between computed as a t-statistic the experimental group. The the sample, treatment adminof research procedures, and materials used in the orig-
Of the 99 t-statistics computed, 68 were positive and 22 of these showed statistical significance beyond the 0.05 level. None of the negative t-statistics were significant at the 0.05 level. These results lend support to the claim that advance organisers do facilitate learning. The following conclusions are based on correlation coefficients between dependent and independent variables. Advance organisers were more effective at the higher Comparative advance organisers tended to show greater facilitative grade levels. effects than expository ones. Some of the positive findings in favour of advance organisers may have been due to the possible contribution of the advance organisers alone to answering the test questions or to an inequality of study time for the treatment groups.
47
48
M. J. Kozlow and A. L. White
There was some indication that non-significant findings were partially due to problems with the experimental materials such as student inability to understand the advance organiser information. Advance organisers showed greater facilitative effects when the reading level was appropriate, when the rate of introduction of new ideas was slower, when the students were given more time to process the advance organiser information, when audio-visual aids were used in the presentation of the advance organiser, and when the key concepts were classificational rather than correlational or theoretical. These findings raise doubts concerning the extent to which the results of the existing research can be generalised to Ausubel's theory. This research has not adequately dealt with a number of alternate hypotheses for the obtained results. Any of the following could account for non-significant results: a.
Students may have had difficulty coping presented in the,advance organiser.
b.
Students may experiment.
c.
The main concept in the advance organiser appropriate subsumer for the information materials.
have
possessed
a relevant
with
the
subsumer
information prior
to the
may not have been in the learning
an
The first two concerns can be examined through pre- and post-testing on the advance Pre-testing on the organiser information during the development of materials. information in the learning materials is not an appropriate test for the absence of Students could be unfamiliar with the facts in the learning materials subsumers. but still possess a subsumer to which facts can be related. Some studies have This could be more rigouraddressed the third concern through the use of judges. ously examined by generating hierarchical concept maps of the main ideas in the learning materials and showing how these are subsumed by the advance organiser concepts. The following questions for significant results
must also be addressed to account showing facilitative effects:
for alternate
a.
Does the advance organiser alone contribute performance on the achievement test?
to improved
b.
Would additional the same results
materials yield organiser?
time spent on the learning as exposure to the advance
hypotheses
Research design must be modified to deal with the five concerns mentioned above if Some attempt should also be made to examine the results are to be generalisable. the mechanism through which advance organisers operate. One approach toward this end would be to examine cognitive structure variables before and after exposure to the advance organiser to determine the extent to which cognitive structure is This detailed examination of the immodified to make subsumers more accessible. pact of advance organisers should facilitate generalisations from research results to Ausubel's theory.
1960, Vol. 4, pp. 47.48.
Pergamon
ADVANCE
Press Ltd. Printed in Great Britain.
ORGANISER
M. James Kozlow
and
BC, Canada
Arthur L. White Faculty of Science
Faculty of Education, WEDGE University of British Columbia Vancouver,
RESEARCH
and
Math Education The Ohio State University
VT6 lW5
Columbia,
Ohio 15210, USA
The conclusions and recommendations presented in this paper are based on a metaanalysis of advance organiser research involving experimental comparisons of achievement for subjects receiving advance organisers with achievement for subjects who The purpose of the analysis was to identify did not receive them (Kozlow, 1978). variables which could help to interpret the apparent inconsistencies in the reported results concerning the facilitative effects of advance organisers and to provide guidelines for future research. Dissertations, journal articles, ERIC articles , and conference papers were included. Reports were not included unless they satisfied the definition of advance organisers as introductory materials designed to establish generalised concepts within cogniMaterials which have been called advance tive structure to act as subsumers. organisers but do not satisfy this definition include behavioural objectives, prevocabulary lists, and topic statements. The sample consisted of 77 test questions, reports from which 99 data sets were generated. A wide range of subject areas and grades (grade three to university) was represented. The dependent variable was a measure of the magnitude achievement means for experimental and control groups in which a positive value indicated a higher mean for 63 independent variables described characteristics of istration conditions, type of subject matter; quality characteristics of the advance organisers and learning inal research.
of the difference between computed as a t-statistic the experimental group. The the sample, treatment adminof research procedures, and materials used in the orig-
Of the 99 t-statistics computed, 68 were positive and 22 of these showed statistical significance beyond the 0.05 level. None of the negative t-statistics were significant at the 0.05 level. These results lend support to the claim that advance organisers do facilitate learning. The following conclusions are based on correlation coefficients between dependent and independent variables. Advance organisers were more effective at the higher Comparative advance organisers tended to show greater facilitative grade levels. effects than expository ones. Some of the positive findings in favour of advance organisers may have been due to the possible contribution of the advance organisers alone to answering the test questions or to an inequality of study time for the treatment groups.
47
48
M. J. Kozlow and A. L. White
There was some indication that non-significant findings were partially due to problems with the experimental materials such as student inability to understand the advance organiser information. Advance organisers showed greater facilitative effects when the reading level was appropriate, when the rate of introduction of new ideas was slower, when the students were given more time to process the advance organiser information, when audio-visual aids were used in the presentation of the advance organiser, and when the key concepts were classificational rather than correlational or theoretical. These findings raise doubts concerning the extent to which the results of the existing research can be generalised to Ausubel's theory. This research has not adequately dealt with a number of alternate hypotheses for the obtained results. Any of the following could account for non-significant results: a.
Students may have had difficulty coping presented in the,advance organiser.
b.
Students may experiment.
c.
The main concept in the advance organiser appropriate subsumer for the information materials.
have
possessed
a relevant
with
the
subsumer
information prior
to the
may not have been in the learning
an
The first two concerns can be examined through pre- and post-testing on the advance Pre-testing on the organiser information during the development of materials. information in the learning materials is not an appropriate test for the absence of Students could be unfamiliar with the facts in the learning materials subsumers. but still possess a subsumer to which facts can be related. Some studies have This could be more rigouraddressed the third concern through the use of judges. ously examined by generating hierarchical concept maps of the main ideas in the learning materials and showing how these are subsumed by the advance organiser concepts. The following questions for significant results
must also be addressed to account showing facilitative effects:
for alternate
a.
Does the advance organiser alone contribute performance on the achievement test?
to improved
b.
Would additional the same results
materials yield organiser?
time spent on the learning as exposure to the advance
hypotheses
Research design must be modified to deal with the five concerns mentioned above if Some attempt should also be made to examine the results are to be generalisable. the mechanism through which advance organisers operate. One approach toward this end would be to examine cognitive structure variables before and after exposure to the advance organiser to determine the extent to which cognitive structure is This detailed examination of the immodified to make subsumers more accessible. pact of advance organisers should facilitate generalisations from research results to Ausubel's theory.