2011 Volume 59 Issue 3 Pages 355-366
Although preparation seems to be effective for meaningful learning, previous research has indicated that effects of preparation are moderated by learners’ beliefs about learning. Preparation such as reading a textbook before a lecture is not effective for those who think of learning as memorizing facts. The present study examined the effectiveness of a method of preparation that directs learners to meaningful learning in a 5-day program of learning about history. Junior high school students (N=53) were assigned to either an experimental group, in which participants answered questions about causal relations in history that were presented to them and judged their confidence in their answers, or a control group, in which participants were only presented with the questions during their preparation. The results indicated that the participants in the experimental group had higher scores on a test that asked about causal relations in history.
