Going beyond the lesson: Self-generating new factual knowledge in the classroom

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Alena Esposito, Emory University; Patricia Bauer, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2017-01-01
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2016 Elsevier Inc.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2016.09.003
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
• ISSN: 0022-0965
• Volume: 153
• Start Page: 110
• End Page: 125
• Grant/Funding Information: The work was supported by NICHD HD067359, and by NSF BCS1528091, to Patricia J. Bauer, and by Emory College of Arts and Sciences.
• Keywords: Humans; Knowledge extension; Elementary education; Schools; Self-generation; Learning; Achievement; Mathematics; Female; Integration; Child; Age Factors; Child Development; Academic performance; Male; Comprehension; Thinking; Reading
• Research Categories: Psychology, Developmental; Psychology, Cognitive

Abstract

For children to build a knowledge base, they must integrate and extend knowledge acquired across separate episodes of new learning. Children's performance was assessed in a task requiring them to self-generate new factual knowledge from the integration of novel facts presented through separate lessons in the classroom. Whether self-generation performance predicted academic outcomes in reading comprehension and mathematics was also examined. The 278 participating children were in kindergarten through Grade 3 (mean age = 7.7 years, range = 5.5–10.3). Children self-generated new factual knowledge through integration in the classroom; age-related increases were observed. Self-generation performance predicted both reading comprehension and mathematics academic outcomes, even when controlling for caregiver education.