The Effects of Ordinary and Coordinate Concept Nonexamples on First-Grade Students' Acquisition of Three Coordinate Concepts

Abstract

Prior research indicates that nonexamples facilitate the acquisition of single concepts by preventing overgeneralization errors. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of ordinary and coordinate concept nonexamples on first-grade students' acquisition of three concepts. Sixty-seven subjects were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups and were taught the coordinate concepts of land, air, and water pollution. Results of ANCOVA indicated that the group that received both coordinate and ordinary nonexamples scored significantly higher than the group that received only coordinate concept nonexamples.