New York College Learning Skills Association

RTDE Issue Contents

Research and Teaching
in Developmental Education

Volume 18, Issue 2, Spring 2002

The Effect of Course-Based Reading Strategy Training on the Reading Comprehension Skills of Developmental College Students
By Vivian Snyder, University of the Pacific, Stockton, California

Abstract

This study examined the effects of course-based reading strategy training (student application of reading strategies to their own college readings) on developmental college learners' reading comprehension skills. Students enrolled in the university's required freshman seminar course-a writing/philosophy/speech course which requires students to read a series of difficult readings from a common reader-were divided into two groups. One group consisted of those students enrolled in the university's developmental reading course, where they received instruction and practice directly applied to the readings in the freshman seminar course. The other group (control) did not receive any direct instruction in reading strategies. T-tests comparing the change within each group from pretest to posttest yielded significant post-pre differences for the developmental reading group and no significant post-pre differences for the control group, suggesting that the course-based instruction supplied by the reading course assisted students in their reading comprehension.