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Reading and Writing

, Volume 31, Issue 1, pp 185–214 | Cite as

What predicts adult readers’ understanding of STEM texts?

  • D. Jake Follmer
  • Shin-Yi Fang
  • Roy B. Clariana
  • Bonnie J. F. Meyer
  • Ping Li
Article
First Online:

Abstract

The current study examined the relations among key variables that underlie reading comprehension of expository science texts in a diverse population of adult native English readers. Using Mechanical Turk to sample a range of adult readers, the study also examined the effect of text presentation on readers’ comprehension and knowledge structure established after reading. In Study 1, ratings of situational interest, select reading background variables, and select measures of readers’ knowledge structure accounted for significant variance in comprehension. In Study 2, the knowledge structure metrics of primacy, recency, and node degree as well as several text ratings were found to be comparable across text presentation formats. Participants who read the text sentence-by-sentence obtained higher scores on measures of comprehension and provided higher ratings of situational interest than those who received the whole paragraph text at once. Knowledge structure measures for the sentence-by-sentence and paragraph formats were similar (68% overlap). We discuss implications for future research examining factors that underlie the successful comprehension of science texts.

Keywords

Reading comprehension Expository text Science text STEM Reader characteristics Mechanical turk 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (BCS-1533625). Any opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  • D. Jake Follmer
    • 1
  • Shin-Yi Fang
    • 2
  • Roy B. Clariana
    • 3
  • Bonnie J. F. Meyer
    • 4
  • Ping Li
    • 2
  1. 1.School of EducationSalisbury UniversitySalisburyUSA
  2. 2.Department of PsychologyThe Pennsylvania State UniversityUniversity ParkUSA
  3. 3.Department of Learning and Performance SystemsThe Pennsylvania State UniversityUniversity ParkUSA
  4. 4.Department of Educational Psychology, Counseling, and Special EducationThe Pennsylvania State UniversityUniversity ParkUSA

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