Identifying Clusters of Less-Skilled College Student Readers Based on Cognitive Processes

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine clusters of less-skilled college readers. College students with below average reading comprehension skills (N = 77) read and thought aloud about four texts, recalled the texts, and completed standardized assessments of reading skills. Based on the findings of cluster analyses of the cognitive processes relevant to creating coherent mental representations of the texts, two clusters of readers were noted. One cluster had more paraphrases and inaccurate or irrelevant connections to background knowledge (invalid inferences) as well as fewer recalled ideas from the texts than the second cluster, which had more accurate and relevant connections to background knowledge (valid inferences). The findings inform developing and personalizing reading interventions for college students.

KEYWORDS:

• Cognitive processes
• college students
• inferences
• text comprehension

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant [R305A180417] to California State University, Chico. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.

Notes on contributors

Virginia Clinton-Lisell

Virginia Clinton-Lisell is an Associate Professor in Educational Foundations and Research and a Rose Isabella Kelly Fischer Professor at the University of North Dakota. She holds a masters’ degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from New York University and a doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Clinton-Lisell’s research focuses on digital reading comprehension and open education.

Sarah E. Carlson

Sarah E. Carlson, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology in the Department of Learning Sciences at Georgia State University. She was an Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Fellow. Her research primarily focuses on understanding human learning through assessing readers’ cognitive processes of comprehension to inform instructional changes. This work has been supported through IES Measurement grants for children and adult readers. She also studies how making data-based decisions can help inform individualized reading comprehension interventions for students who struggle with comprehension. She has publishes and presents regularly at local, national and international conferences.

Heather Ness-Maddox

Heather Ness-Maddox, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and Criminal Justice at Middle Georgia State University as well as the Director of the university’s Honors Program. Her doctorate is in educational psychology, with specializations in quantitative research in education and language and literacy science. In her teaching, Dr. Ness-Maddox focuses on students developing effective learning strategies and discipline specific skills, and in her research, she explores how we experience and comprehend narratives across modalities.

Amanda Dahl

Amanda Dahl, PhD., CCC-SLP, is a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University. She is a speech-language pathologist with a decade of experience working with children, adolescents, and young adults with language-based learning disabilities. Her research interests include informational text comprehension and reading comprehension instruction and assessment.

Terrill Taylor

Terrill O. Taylor, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Maryland, College Park. He received his doctorate in Counseling Psychology from the University of North Dakota. His research interests center on examining issues of racial equity, intersectionality, and restorative justice.

Mark L. Davison

Mark L. Davison, is a professor emeritus in quantitative methods in education, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, 56 E. River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; e-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include the measurement and analysis of academic achievement.

Ben Seipel

Ben Seipel, Ph.D., is a professor in the School of Education at California State University, Chico. He earned his doctorate and master’s degrees from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis in Educational Psychology. Dr. Seipel’s research focuses on assessing the cognitive processes involved in reading comprehension, assessment, teacher education, and online teaching and learning.