The effect of reading instruction on calibration abilities of at-risk college reading students

Most research into metacognition has used populations of children. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to extend general knowledge about metacognition based on child data to adult populations. Previous research into adult metacognitive abilities has focused on academically stable college populations. For this reason, an adult population of academically at-risk college students was chosen to examine the effects of reading instruction on one aspect of metacognition, calibration. Calibration is a self-monitoring aspect of metacognition and is defined as the ability to predict performance on an academic task. A better understanding of metacognition in an adult at-risk population is important since metacognition plays a significant role in reading comprehension and successful learning in general. Subjects included all academically at-risk students in two ability levels of college reading classes. Reading ability of each subject was determined using the Nelson-Denny Reading Test (NDRT) as a pre- and post-test. Subjects were asked to predict performance on both vocabulary subtests of the NDRT as a measure of calibration skills. Change in reading ability and calibration ability as a result of one semester of reading instruction was calculated. Other variables investigated within the two class levels were age, gender, and confidence judgements. Correlation matrixes representing a sampling over time were run for all variables. Results indicate that reading instruction, or more specifically, exposure to print, does not increase calibration skills significantly without direct instructional intervention. Further research into calibration ability in adult at-risk populations is warranted, especially research designed to determine what type of instruction increases calibration ability.