Reijners, P. B. G., Kester, L., Wetzels, S. A. J., & Kirschner, P. A. (2012, November). Learning from text: The effect of adjunct questions and alignment on text comprehension. Poster presented at the ICO International Fall School, Girona, Spain.In education tests are primarily used as diagnostic instruments. However, they can also be used as learning instruments to help learners improve learning and long-term retention. A lot of research in the past has focused on the use of adjunct questions as test instruments to aid learners during the learning process. The research reported on here builds on previous found effects of placement, level and form of questions on test performances. It is investigated how different types of questions (factual and comprehension) relate to and interact with alignment. Results show that answering comprehension questions during a study phase positively influences performance on repeated and new comprehension questions. It was also found that when there is alignment on comprehension questions in a study and test phase, participants’ performance on repeated comprehension questions is higher compared to the performance of participants in conditions in which there was no alignment or alignment on factual questions

Kester, Liesbeth

Kirschner, Paul A.

Reijners, Pauline

Wetzels, Sandra

In education tests are primarily used as diagnostic instruments. However, they can also be used as learning instruments to help learners improve learning and long-term retention. A lot of research in the past has focused on the use of adjunct questions as test instruments to aid learners during the learning process. The research reported on here builds on previous found effects of placement, level and form of questions on test performances. It is investigated how different types of questions (factual and comprehension) relate to and interact with alignment. Results show that answering comprehension questions during a study phase positively influences performance on repeated and new comprehension questions. It was also found that when there is alignment on comprehension questions in a study and test phase, participants’ performance on repeated comprehension questions is higher compared to the performance of participants in conditions in which there was no alignment or alignment on factual questions

Open University of the Netherlands Research Portal

Open Universiteit www.ou.nl Learning from text: The effect of adjunct questions andalignment on text comprehensionCitation for published version (APA):Reijners, P., Kester, L., Wetzels, S., & Kirschner, P. A. (2012). Learning from text: The effect of adjunctquestions and alignment on text comprehension. Poster session presented at The ICO International Fall School2012, Girona, Spain.Document status and date:Published: 01/11/2012Document Version:Peer reviewed versionPlease check the document version of this publication:• A submitted manuscript is the version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences betweenthe submitted version and the official published version of record. People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for thefinal version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website.• The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review.• The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers.Link to publicationGeneral rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright ownersand it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.• You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain• You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal.If the publication is distributed under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the “Taverne” license above, pleasefollow below link for the End User Agreement:https://www.ou.nl/taverne-agreementTake down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us at:pure-support@ou.nlproviding details and we will investigate your claim.Downloaded from https://research.ou.nl/ on date: 15 Feb. 2023Learning from text: The effect of adjunct questions and alignment on text comprehension     Background Tests are rarely seen as learning instruments for improving learning (e.g., Karpicke & Roediger, 2008) and knowledge consolidation. However, the testing effect has shown that tests can positively influence the learning process (e.g., Roediger & Karpicke, 2006). Based on these findings, researchers have recommended that teachers make use of tests in their courses (e.g., Leeming, 2002).  To incorporate tests in education, adjunct questions inserted in written prose can be used (Hamaker, 1984). Research on adjunct questions has shown that questions can serve different functions (e.g., Rothkopf & Bisbicos, 1967) and that they can be distinguished by looking at their specific level/form. For example, verbatim questions require the learner to recognize words previously read in a text and comprehension questions require learners to employ higher order processes (Anderson, 1972). In addition to question function and level/form, alignment of cognitive activities during encoding and retrieval is also important (e.g., McDaniel, Friedman, & Bourne, 1978); transfer appropriate processing (TAP; (Thomas & McDaniel, 2007). The underlying idea is that the effectiveness of generative study activities depends on the degree of alignment between processes required by the study activity and processes required at retrieval. The research reported on here investigated the effect of different types of adjunct questions (factual/comprehension) on learning from text. It also focused on the influence of alignment in the type of questions offered during encoding and retrieval of information from text. Method  Participants were 106 first-year students (101 females, 5 males; mean age = 18.53 years, SD = .93) in Pedagogical Sciences at a large Flemish university. A multiple-choice prior-knowledge test (15 minutes) was administered at least 1 week prior to the experimental session to minimize possible retention effects. One week later, participants were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions to investigate the effect of Question Type (factual/comprehension) and Alignment (aligned/ not aligned) on final test performance by a 2x2 factorial design. Participants had 15 minutes for each phase. Conditions 1 (n = 29) and 4 (n = 22) were aligned conditions (only factual or comprehension questions respectively in the study and test phase). Conditions 2 (n = 27) and 3 (n = 28) were non-aligned conditions (factual questions in the study phase and comprehension questions in the test phase (condition 2) or vice versa (condition 3).  In the study phase, participants read the text and answered factual questions (condition 1and 2) or comprehension questions (condition 3and 4). The text was used to answer the questions. During the test phase participants answered five factual questions (conditions 1 and 3) or five comprehension questions (conditions 2 and 4). During the restudy phase all participants reread the text. Between the phases participants worked on a filler task (2 minutes). The 20-item final test consisting of repeated and new factual and comprehension questions was administered one week later (30 minutes).  Results  Results on the final test showed that there was a marginal significant effect of alignment on repeated factual questions. Participants in aligned conditions performed better on repeated factual questions than participants in non-aligned conditions. The type of question answered during the study phase did not significantly influence scores. The type of question answered during the study phase did not significantly influence scores on new factual questions and no differences were found for participants in aligned or non-aligned conditions.  Participants who answered comprehension questions during the study phase, scored significantly better on repeated comprehension questions compared to participants who answered factual questions. Participants who answered comprehension questions in the study and test phase scored significantly higher on repeated comprehension questions than participants in the other conditions. Alignment of questions in the study and test phase on comprehension questions led to higher performance on repeated comprehension questions than no alignment or alignment on factual questions. Scores on new comprehension questions were significantly higher for participants who answered comprehension questions during the study phase than for participants who answered factual questions. Participants in aligned conditions did not score better on new comprehension questions than participants in non-aligned conditions.  Conclusion  Results show that effects are especially found on comprehension questions in the final test. A possible explanation for this result is that offering comprehension questions requires participants to process the text more deeply compared to a situation in which factual questions are offered.   Alignment on comprehension questions has a positive influence on repeated and new comprehension questions. There is only a marginal significant effect of alignment on repeated factual questions. A possible explanation for this finding is that facts can be seen as isolated parts of information in a text. Remembering one part of information does not automatically lead to remembering a new fact from the text.  References  Anderson, R. C. (1972). How to construct achievement tests to assess comprehension. Review of Educational Research, 42, 145-170. Hamaker, C. (1984). The use of adjunct questions in educational texts. A review of the research literature and six experiments on the effects of adjunct application questions (Doctoral dissertation). University of Amsterdam.  Karpicke, J.D., & Roediger, H.L., III. (2008). The critical importance of retrieval for learning. Science, 319, 966-968. Leeming, F.C. (2002). The exam-a-day procedure improves performance in psychology classes. Teaching of Psychology, 29, 210-212. McDaniel, M. A., Friedman, A., & Bourne Jr., L. E. (1978). Remembering the levels of information in words. Memory & Cognition, 6, 156-164. Roediger, H.L., III, & Karpicke, J.D. (2006a). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17, 249-255. Rothkopf, E. Z., & Bisbicos, E. E. (1967). Selective facilitative effects of interspersed questions on learning from written materials. Journal of Educational Psychology, 58, 56-61. Thomas, A. K., & McDaniel, M. A. (2007). The negative cascade of incongruent generative study-test processing in memory and metacomprehension. Memory & Cognition, 35, 668-678.   

English

Learning from text: The effect of adjunct questions and alignment on text comprehension

NARCIS 

Open Universiteit www.ou.nl Learning from text: The effect of adjunct questions andalignment on text comprehensionCitation for published version (APA):Reijners, P., Kester, L., Wetzels, S., & Kirschner, P. A. (2012). Learning from text: The effect of adjunctquestions and alignment on text comprehension. Poster session presented at The ICO International Fall School2012, Girona, Spain.Document status and date:Published: 01/11/2012Document Version:Peer reviewed versionPlease check the document version of this publication:• A submitted manuscript is the version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences betweenthe submitted version and the official published version of record. People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for thefinal version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website.• The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review.• The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers.Link to publicationGeneral rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright ownersand it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.• You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain• You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal.If the publication is distributed under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the “Taverne” license above, pleasefollow below link for the End User Agreement:https://www.ou.nl/taverne-agreementTake down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us at:pure-support@ou.nlproviding details and we will investigate your claim.Downloaded from https://research.ou.nl/ on date: 16 Jul. 2023Learning from text: The effect of adjunct questions and alignment on text comprehension     Background Tests are rarely seen as learning instruments for improving learning (e.g., Karpicke & Roediger, 2008) and knowledge consolidation. However, the testing effect has shown that tests can positively influence the learning process (e.g., Roediger & Karpicke, 2006). Based on these findings, researchers have recommended that teachers make use of tests in their courses (e.g., Leeming, 2002).  To incorporate tests in education, adjunct questions inserted in written prose can be used (Hamaker, 1984). Research on adjunct questions has shown that questions can serve different functions (e.g., Rothkopf & Bisbicos, 1967) and that they can be distinguished by looking at their specific level/form. For example, verbatim questions require the learner to recognize words previously read in a text and comprehension questions require learners to employ higher order processes (Anderson, 1972). In addition to question function and level/form, alignment of cognitive activities during encoding and retrieval is also important (e.g., McDaniel, Friedman, & Bourne, 1978); transfer appropriate processing (TAP; (Thomas & McDaniel, 2007). The underlying idea is that the effectiveness of generative study activities depends on the degree of alignment between processes required by the study activity and processes required at retrieval. The research reported on here investigated the effect of different types of adjunct questions (factual/comprehension) on learning from text. It also focused on the influence of alignment in the type of questions offered during encoding and retrieval of information from text. Method  Participants were 106 first-year students (101 females, 5 males; mean age = 18.53 years, SD = .93) in Pedagogical Sciences at a large Flemish university. A multiple-choice prior-knowledge test (15 minutes) was administered at least 1 week prior to the experimental session to minimize possible retention effects. One week later, participants were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions to investigate the effect of Question Type (factual/comprehension) and Alignment (aligned/ not aligned) on final test performance by a 2x2 factorial design. Participants had 15 minutes for each phase. Conditions 1 (n = 29) and 4 (n = 22) were aligned conditions (only factual or comprehension questions respectively in the study and test phase). Conditions 2 (n = 27) and 3 (n = 28) were non-aligned conditions (factual questions in the study phase and comprehension questions in the test phase (condition 2) or vice versa (condition 3).  In the study phase, participants read the text and answered factual questions (condition 1and 2) or comprehension questions (condition 3and 4). The text was used to answer the questions. During the test phase participants answered five factual questions (conditions 1 and 3) or five comprehension questions (conditions 2 and 4). During the restudy phase all participants reread the text. Between the phases participants worked on a filler task (2 minutes). The 20-item final test consisting of repeated and new factual and comprehension questions was administered one week later (30 minutes).  Results  Results on the final test showed that there was a marginal significant effect of alignment on repeated factual questions. Participants in aligned conditions performed better on repeated factual questions than participants in non-aligned conditions. The type of question answered during the study phase did not significantly influence scores. The type of question answered during the study phase did not significantly influence scores on new factual questions and no differences were found for participants in aligned or non-aligned conditions.  Participants who answered comprehension questions during the study phase, scored significantly better on repeated comprehension questions compared to participants who answered factual questions. Participants who answered comprehension questions in the study and test phase scored significantly higher on repeated comprehension questions than participants in the other conditions. Alignment of questions in the study and test phase on comprehension questions led to higher performance on repeated comprehension questions than no alignment or alignment on factual questions. Scores on new comprehension questions were significantly higher for participants who answered comprehension questions during the study phase than for participants who answered factual questions. Participants in aligned conditions did not score better on new comprehension questions than participants in non-aligned conditions.  Conclusion  Results show that effects are especially found on comprehension questions in the final test. A possible explanation for this result is that offering comprehension questions requires participants to process the text more deeply compared to a situation in which factual questions are offered.   Alignment on comprehension questions has a positive influence on repeated and new comprehension questions. There is only a marginal significant effect of alignment on repeated factual questions. A possible explanation for this finding is that facts can be seen as isolated parts of information in a text. Remembering one part of information does not automatically lead to remembering a new fact from the text.  References  Anderson, R. C. (1972). How to construct achievement tests to assess comprehension. Review of Educational Research, 42, 145-170. Hamaker, C. (1984). The use of adjunct questions in educational texts. A review of the research literature and six experiments on the effects of adjunct application questions (Doctoral dissertation). University of Amsterdam.  Karpicke, J.D., & Roediger, H.L., III. (2008). The critical importance of retrieval for learning. Science, 319, 966-968. Leeming, F.C. (2002). The exam-a-day procedure improves performance in psychology classes. Teaching of Psychology, 29, 210-212. McDaniel, M. A., Friedman, A., & Bourne Jr., L. E. (1978). Remembering the levels of information in words. Memory & Cognition, 6, 156-164. Roediger, H.L., III, & Karpicke, J.D. (2006a). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17, 249-255. Rothkopf, E. Z., & Bisbicos, E. E. (1967). Selective facilitative effects of interspersed questions on learning from written materials. Journal of Educational Psychology, 58, 56-61. Thomas, A. K., & McDaniel, M. A. (2007). The negative cascade of incongruent generative study-test processing in memory and metacomprehension. Memory & Cognition, 35, 668-678.   

DSpace at Open Universiteit Nederland

Learning from text: The effect of adjunct questions and alignment 
on text comprehension  
 
  
Background 
Tests are rarely seen as learning instruments for improving learning (e.g., Karpicke & Roediger, 2008) and 
knowledge consolidation. However, the testing effect has shown that tests can positively influence the learning 
process (e.g., Roediger & Karpicke, 2006). Based on these findings, researchers have recommended that teachers 
make use of tests in their courses (e.g., Leeming, 2002).  
To incorporate tests in education, adjunct questions inserted in written prose can be used (Hamaker, 
1984). Research on adjunct questions has shown that questions can serve different functions (e.g., Rothkopf & 
Bisbicos, 1967) and that they can be distinguished by looking at their specific level/form. For example, verbatim 
questions require the learner to recognize words previously read in a text and comprehension questions require 
learners to employ higher order processes (Anderson, 1972). 
In addition to question function and level/form, alignment of cognitive activities during encoding and 
retrieval is also important (e.g., McDaniel, Friedman, & Bourne, 1978); transfer appropriate processing (TAP; 
(Thomas & McDaniel, 2007). The underlying idea is that the effectiveness of generative study activities depends 
on the degree of alignment between processes required by the study activity and processes required at retrieval. 
The research reported on here investigated the effect of different types of adjunct questions 
(factual/comprehension) on learning from text. It also focused on the influence of alignment in the type of 
questions offered during encoding and retrieval of information from text. 
Method  
Participants were 106 first-year students (101 females, 5 males; mean age = 18.53 years, SD = .93) in 
Pedagogical Sciences at a large Flemish university. A multiple-choice prior-knowledge test (15 minutes) was 
administered at least 1 week prior to the experimental session to minimize possible retention effects. One week 
later, participants were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions to investigate the effect of 
Question Type (factual/comprehension) and Alignment (aligned/ not aligned) on final test performance by a 2x2 
factorial design. Participants had 15 minutes for each phase. Conditions 1 (n = 29) and 4 (n = 22) were aligned 
conditions (only factual or comprehension questions respectively in the study and test phase). Conditions 2 
(n = 27) and 3 (n = 28) were non-aligned conditions (factual questions in the study phase and comprehension 
questions in the test phase (condition 2) or vice versa (condition 3).  
In the study phase, participants read the text and answered factual questions (condition 1and 2) or 
comprehension questions (condition 3and 4). The text was used to answer the questions. During the test phase 
participants answered five factual questions (conditions 1 and 3) or five comprehension questions (conditions 2 
and 4). During the restudy phase all participants reread the text. Between the phases participants worked on a 
filler task (2 minutes). The 20-item final test consisting of repeated and new factual and comprehension 
questions was administered one week later (30 minutes).  
Results  
Results on the final test showed that there was a marginal significant effect of alignment on repeated factual 
questions. Participants in aligned conditions performed better on repeated factual questions than participants in 
non-aligned conditions. The type of question answered during the study phase did not significantly influence 
scores. The type of question answered during the study phase did not significantly influence scores on new 
factual questions and no differences were found for participants in aligned or non-aligned conditions. 
 Participants who answered comprehension questions during the study phase, scored significantly better 
on repeated comprehension questions compared to participants who answered factual questions. Participants who 
answered comprehension questions in the study and test phase scored significantly higher on repeated 
comprehension questions than participants in the other conditions. Alignment of questions in the study and test 
phase on comprehension questions led to higher performance on repeated comprehension questions than no 
alignment or alignment on factual questions. Scores on new comprehension questions were significantly higher 
for participants who answered comprehension questions during the study phase than for participants who 
answered factual questions. Participants in aligned conditions did not score better on new comprehension 
questions than participants in non-aligned conditions.  
Conclusion  
Results show that effects are especially found on comprehension questions in the final test. A possible 
explanation for this result is that offering comprehension questions requires participants to process the text more 
deeply compared to a situation in which factual questions are offered.  
 Alignment on comprehension questions has a positive influence on repeated and new comprehension 
questions. There is only a marginal significant effect of alignment on repeated factual questions. A possible 
explanation for this finding is that facts can be seen as isolated parts of information in a text. Remembering one 
part of information does not automatically lead to remembering a new fact from the text. 
 
References  
Anderson, R. C. (1972). How to construct achievement tests to assess comprehension. Review of Educational 
Research, 42, 145-170. 
Hamaker, C. (1984). The use of adjunct questions in educational texts. A review of the research literature and 
six experiments on the effects of adjunct application questions (Doctoral dissertation). University of 
Amsterdam.  
Karpicke, J.D., & Roediger, H.L., III. (2008). The critical importance of retrieval for learning. Science, 319, 966-
968. 
Leeming, F.C. (2002). The exam-a-day procedure improves performance in psychology classes. Teaching of 
Psychology, 29, 210-212. 
McDaniel, M. A., Friedman, A., & Bourne Jr., L. E. (1978). Remembering the levels of information in words. 
Memory & Cognition, 6, 156-164. 
Roediger, H.L., III, & Karpicke, J.D. (2006a). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term 
retention. Psychological Science, 17, 249-255. 
Rothkopf, E. Z., & Bisbicos, E. E. (1967). Selective facilitative effects of interspersed questions on learning 
from written materials. Journal of Educational Psychology, 58, 56-61. 
Thomas, A. K., & McDaniel, M. A. (2007). The negative cascade of incongruent generative study-test 
processing in memory and metacomprehension. Memory & Cognition, 35, 668-678. 
 
 


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Learning from text: The effect of adjunct questions and alignment on text comprehension

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