The Coded Elaborative Outline as a Strategy to help Students Learn from Text

Abstract

The coded elaborative outline (CEO) was evaluated as a strategy for helping students learn from text. CEOs are outlines of main points that include both coding the information read and elaborating on that information to enhance meaning. Five treatment conditions were compared: (a) CEO required, (b) CEO voluntary, (c) CEO instruction only, (d) standard outline required, and (e) no outline. Five college classes, equivalent in verbal comprehension and grade motivation, were randomly assigned to the five treatment conditions as part of an undergraduate educational psychology course. The treatment conditions extended over a 5-week period and involved the study of six textbook chapters. Subsequently, all students were tested on a 100-item achievement test that was referenced to the content taught during the treatment period. Results showed that students who were required to write and submit CEOs for the textbook chapters covered on the test scored significantly higher than students in the other four conditions whose test scores did not differ significantly among conditions. The practical applications of CEOs, the relationship between study time and study strategies, and the need for a CEO component analysis are discussed.