Creating Characters in a Story-Telling Universe

Extended story generation, i.e., the creation of continuing serials, presents difficult and interesting problems for Artificial Intelligence. We present here the first phase or the development of a program, UNIVERSE, that will ultimately tell extended stories. In particular, alter describing our overall model of story telling, we present a method for creating universes of characters appropriate for extended story generation. This method concentrates on the need to keep story-telling universes consistent and coherent. We also describe the information that must be maintained for characters and interpersonal relationships, and the use of stereotypical information about people to help motivate trait values. The use of historical events for motivation is also described. Finally, we present an example of a character generated by UNIVERSE

Effects of Active Comprehension Instruction on Attitudes and Motivation in Reading

Numerous studies have shown that training students in self-questioning enhances comprehension (Andre and Anderson, 1979; Nolte and Singer, 1985; Palincsar, 1984; Singer and Donlan, 1982; Yopp, 1987). As Singer (1978) and Yopp (1988) have argued, the process of self-questioning, or active comprehension, facilitates comprehension because it requires students to use their metacognitive capacities and activates their background knowledge

Educational Motivation in Heritage Speakers of Spanish

This study examined the themes associated with the lack of motivation for school in middle school students, specifically among Heritage Speakers of Spanish. The researcher used two methods to examine student and parent attitudes and beliefs about school and education, as attitudes and beliefs are strongly linked to motivation. The researcher did face-to-face interviews of Mexican parents with direct questions about education and school, and asked middle school students of Mexican descent to read the first part of a short selection about a Mexican immigrant boy in school, then complete the story using their imagination. The researcher compiled the parents\u27 responses, and used content analysis to identify eight themes in the students \u27 narratives. Four findings emerged from the data: Mexican immigrant parents are perceived by their children as ineffective adults, parental expectations regarding school and the future are in conflict with student expectations, students have more extrinsic motivation (rewards) than intrinsic motivation (learning for itself), and students perceive many obstacles to school success

Strategies to improve the comprehension of struggling readers and the elementary level

Comprehension occurs when a reader constructs meaning from the text. Each reader must use a strategy to best suit their interaction with the text. By internalizing reading strategies, students will become successful readers. Education is part of a research based instructional practice movement. This paper describes five instructional methods used to teach comprehension strategies to elementary students and the research that supports them. The paper closes with conclusions and recommendations for teaching comprehension strategies

How children understand stories : a developmental analysis

Bibliography: leaves 44-48The research reported herein was supported in part by the National Institute of Education under Contract No. US-NIE-C-400-76-011