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Version 1.1 – Updated August 2021

Self-verbalization / self questioning

Overview

  • Influence: Self-verbalization / self questioning
  • Domain: Student Learning Strategies
  • Sub-Domain: Meta-cognitive/self-regulated learning
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Potential to considerably accelerate
  • Influence Definition: Self-verbalization (talking to oneself about a difficult intellectual task) and self-questioning (interrogating oneself about the information one encounters) are both cognitive tools, and both have been associated with higher levels of understanding. Indeed, numerous studies have directed students to ask themselves different types of questions while reading (higher-order questions about meaning; self-monitoring questions about the reading process; or questions about relevant prior knowledge).

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 11
  • Number of studies: 521
  • Number of students: 10,352
  • Number of effects: 1,624
  • Effect size: 0.59

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author First Author's Country Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
Unpublished Thesis/Contractor Report Rock USA Factors Associated with Decline of Test Scores of High School Seniors, 1972 to 1980. A Study of Excellence in High School Education 1985 Special Ed self-instructional training 47 1,398 684 0.51
Nature: Science of Learning Donoghue & Hattie Australia Learning strategies: A synthesis and conceptual model 2018 Self-verbalizing and self questioning 93 804 93 0.54
Unpublished Thesis Duzinski USA The educational utility of cognitive behavior modification strategies with children: a quantitative synthesis 1987 Self-verbalizing instruction training 45 0 377 0.84
Unpublished Thesis Huang USA A meta-analysis of student self-questioning strategies. 1991 Student self-questioning 21 1,700 89 0.58
Unpublished Thesis Lavery Self-regulated learning for academic success: An evaluation of instructional techniques 2008 Self verbalizing the steps in a problem 124 0 124 0.62
Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning Marzano, Gaddy, & Dean What Works in Classroom Instruction 2000 Process specification & monitoring 15 0 15 0.30
Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning Marzano, Gaddy, & Dean What Works in Classroom Instruction 2000 Dispositional monitoring 15 0 15 0.30
Doctoral Dissertation Lavery Self-regulated learning for academic success: An evaluation of instructional techniques 2008 Self-consequences 75 0 75 0.70
AERA Conference Bisra, Liu, & Salimi Canada 2015 Self-explanation 14 0 14 1.08
Educational Psychology Review Bisra, Liu, Nesbit, Salimi, & Winne Canada Inducing self-explanation: A meta-analysis 2018 Self-explanation 64 5,917 69 0.55
Doctoral Dissertation Lavery Self-regulated learning for academic success: An evaluation of instructional techniques 2008 Self-explanation 8 533 69 0.50
TOTAL/AVERAGE 521 10,352 1,624 0.59

Confidence

The Confidence is the average of these four measures, each divided into five approximately equal groups and assigned a value from 1 to 5 based on the following criteria:

  • Number of Meta-analyses
    • 1 = 1
    • 2 = 2–3
    • 3 = 4–6
    • 4 = 7–9
    • 5 = 10+
  • Number of Studies
    • 1 = 1–10
    • 2 = 11–50
    • 3 = 51–200
    • 4 = 201–400
    • 5 = 400+
  • Number of Students
    • 1 = 1–2,500
    • 2 = 2,501–10,000
    • 3 = 10,000–20,000
    • 4 = 20,000–100,000
    • 5 = 100,001+
  • Number of Effects
    • 1 = 1–100
    • 2 = 101–300
    • 3 = 301–600
    • 4 = 601–1,200
    • 5 = 1,200+
Confidences
Number of Meta-Analyses Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Overall Confidence
Confidence Factor 5 5 3 5 5
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