Chapter 7, page 171
EXTENSIONSIn this section we examine how strategy use by students varies across different kinds of students. We
first examine developmental changes in strategy use. We then explore strategy use in students of other
cultures as well as ESL students. Finally, we consider strategy use by special education students.
Developmental Changes
In Chapter 3, you learned that there are theories about major developmental changes in children’s
minds as they grow older. An important aspect of cognitive development is the changes in strategy use that
occur as children grow older. As students gain a greater understanding of their own minds, their
understanding of learning strategies that are available to them increases, and their strategy use grows more
sophisticated. For instance, older learners are more proficient at using strategies such as summarization,
elaboration, explanation, and monitoring than younger learners are (A. L. Brown et al., 1983).
Similarly, as elementary school children move into middle school and then high school, their
understanding of the distinction between theories and evidence improves. At this point, they better
understand the role of evidence in supporting theories and that evidence can either support or contradict
their current theory (Kuhn, in press). This ability lays the groundwork for improved use of the reasoning
strategies that you have learned about in this chapter.
Researchers have found that even many adult learners fall short of proficiency on most of the
strategies that you have learned about in this chapter. Moreover, even early elementary school students can
begin learning most of the strategies in this chapter at a basic level (A. L. Brown et al., 1983). Research
has shown that young children can learn sophisticated scientific and mathematical strategies that until more
recently, were thought to develop only in early adolescence (Lehrer & Schauble, 2002; Metz, 1995). This
research indicates that most—if not all—of the strategies in this chapter should be introduced in early
grades and revisited in more complex ways as students move into higher grades.
Students’ use of each of the strategies discussed in this chapter will become more sophisticated over
time, as well as other strategies they learn, as they continue to use them throughout their school years.
Table 7.6 presents six dimensions of change in strategy mastery, using the strategy of summarization as an
example. Instruction should focus on helping students gain sophistication in strategy use along these six
dimensions.
Cultural and Linguistic Diversity
There is some evidence that students from different cultures may use different cognitive strategies for
learning. In a comparison of Australian and Japanese high school students, Japanese students reported
more rehearsing and memorizing and more reviewing of textbooks, whereas Australian students reported
more goal setting, more use of self-rewards, and they were more likely to seek teacher or adult assistance.
They also tended to review notes and tests (Purdie, Hattie, & Douglas, 1996). In a study of U.S. students,
Stevens and Tallent-Runnels (2004) found that the Hispanic and Anglo students seemed to interpret
questionnaire items differently, which made it difficult to compare strategy use across the two groups.
Nisbett and his colleagues (2001) have reported on a broad range of differences in reasoning
strategies between European Americans and East Asians. For instance, East Asians are more likely than
European Americans to consider the surrounding context when explaining events. In one study, Koreans
reported a much stronger belief than European Americans that people’s behavior is determined by the
situation in which they find themselves. When asked to explain people’s behaviors, East Asians are more
likely to take the situation into account when making attributions. In explaining a murder case, an East
Asian might say “he became ambitious because he had grown up in a small town,” whereas a European
American is more likely to say simply that “he became ambitious” (Choi, Nisbett, & Norenzayan, 1999, p.
58). Thus, the East Asian explains the murder partly in terms of the situation in which the individual lived,