EVALUATING STUDENTS ACQUISITION OF FACTUAL MATERIAL WHEN STUDYING INDEPENDENTLY OR WITH A PARTNER

The present study compared the potency of a why-questioning strategy c alled elaborative interrogation to self-selected strategies and repeti tion when students studied familiar and unfamiliar materials independe ntly or in an interactive study context. Introductory psychology stude nts (N=120) were randomly assigned to one of three strategy conditions (elaborative interrogation, self study, or repetition) and one of two study contexts (dyad or individual). Dyad members were told to work t ogether to learn the 60 facts about animals. Students in the elaborati ve interrogation (EI) conditions were instructed to answer 'why' quest ions about each fact. Students in the repetition condition rehearsed e ach fact. In the self-study condition, students used any strategy(ies) that they thought would help them to remember the information. Both t he EI and self study students outperformed repetition for facts about familiar animals. There were no significant differences between EI and self study. A greater number of repetition based strategies were gene rated when studying unfamiliar materials. In contrast, more higher ord er strategies were generated when studying familiar materials. Most im portant, the findings clearly support the effectiveness of interactive learning.