The effects of prompts and self-explanatory utterances on studying from a statistical textbook

Abstract

Self-explanation is a learning strategy of expressing aloud one's thoughts while studying a textbook. This study examines the effects of self-explanation on studying a statistical textbook. Prompts orientating self-explanations and expressing aloud were manipulated between participants. In a prompts plus utterances group, the participants were asked to paraphrase difficult words, interpret sentences, and create relations between sentences, figures, and tables, and to express aloud all their thoughts while studying the textbook. In a no-prompts but utterances group, the participants were asked to comprehend the text and to express aloud their thoughts while studying. In a prompts but no-utterances group, the participants were asked to silently paraphrase difficult words, interpret sentences, and create relations between sentences, figures, and tables. Finally, in a no-prompts plus no-utterances group, the participants were asked to silently read and comprehend the text. Following the study phase, the participants completed a questionnaire concerning their thinking processes. Then, they undertook a test that included both text-based and inference-based questions. The results of the test indicate that expressing aloud hindered the participants' study of the textbook but there were no prompt effects on learning. The results of the questionnaire indicate that participants who interpreted the textbook content more had higher scores for the inference-based questions.