Journal of Advanced Composition, Volume 4, 1983 Page: 55
230 p. ; 22 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Karen I. Spear
pecially of unfamiliar or argumentative sources, helps students
to overcome egocentrism and see the source as it is, not as they
wish or believe it to be. Similarly, letters help to build compre-
hension skills because of the awareness of a specific reader. Pro-
blem solving exercises in which the data is given (especially
statistical data that must be translated into words), process
explanations, explications of readings and simple summaries
explained to someone else--all these are writing activities that
develop comprehension skills. At the most sophisticated point
of the comprehension hierarchy, classification of elements of a
given system is involved as a way to interpret material. This
activity helps to initiate later developments in the disciplined
use of coordination and subordination, not just as syntactic
patterns, but as thinking abilities. In all these exercises, writers
show comprehension by going beyond egocentric needs to
render material in a suitable form for a reader. Significantly, as
Bloom discovered while he was preparing the taxonomy, "in
the cognitive domain especially, it appears that as the behaviors
become more complex, the individual is more aware of their
existence" (p. 19), and "students are able to give more complete
reports of their attack on a problem" (p. 20).19
In other words, one result of putting a cognitive hierarchy
into a pedagogical framework is that students are helped to gain
awareness of both self and other and to reflect self-consciously
on the processes they are engaged in to understand themselves
and communicate with others. This is to reiterate what James
Moffett concludes in his discussion of cognitive development:
we engage in the whole spectrum of cognition at all ages yet
often remain unaware, thus not fully in control of, our thought
processes. What is important, says Moffett, is that "increased
consciousness of abstracting [e. g., cognitive level] has as much
to do with developmental growth as has progression up the
abstraction ladder."20
Level III. Application, Transcending the Familar
Comprehension involves thinking that derives from a
given context. At the next level, application, students put
knowledge to work in new situations, using what Bloom calls
"transfer learning." What happens here is a conscious sorting-
through of what the individual knows in order to apply it to an
unfamiliar problem. Students become increasingly aware of55
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Lally, Tim D. P. Journal of Advanced Composition, Volume 4, 1983, periodical, 1987; (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc28596/m1/61/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .