High school students' processing of texts and maps

Textbooks that contain maps are frequently studied by high school students. This thesis examines the influence of text and map characteristics and different levels of processing on high school students' recall and recognition of information at different levels of abstraction (details, main ideas, themes) in a Social Science text. In addition the role of individual differences are of interest in this context. Three studies were conducted. The first study examined the effects of the interaction of text and map considerateness on students' recall and recognition. Of particular interest was the issue of whether or not considerateness in one domain (text or map) could compensate for inconsideratenss in the other. Dependent measures took the form of multiple choice test, a free recall test and a test map task. The results showed that the considerateness of a text exerts a powerful influence on students' recall and recognition of higher order information (i.e. main idea and thematic level), while the influence of map mainipulations were minimal. The second study sought to examine whether text and map materials studied by students could be made more considerate by encouraging them to actively process the materials. Four levels of processing were examined. Students were involved in higher level processing of the text by responding to main idea oriented postquestions and cues to examine the map at strategic points in the text. The aim of this processing was to facilitate students' understanding of the main ideas and themes of the text as well as to encourage conjoint retention of map and text information. The results however, did not highlight any significant differences between the effects of the four processing levels on students' recall and recognition of the Social Science text. In Study Three students were forced to process the map by marking areas of it associated with event-related ideas. Unlike Study Two, the processing required in this study could not be viewed as optional. Results from this study indicated that forced processing of a map facilitates recall and recognition of higher order information, particularly for high ability students. Overall the results from the three studies demonstrate that text has a powerful influence on students' recall and recognition performance and students need to be active in their processing of the text and particularly in the ways in which they process maps. The general discussion focusses on the implications for teachers, textbook writers and publishers. Issues for future research are also discussed.