Effect of Generic Advance Instructions on Learning a Classification Task

We investigated whether giving students generic advance instructions about how to learn a classification task was effective in facilitating learning of a specific classification task. The effect of instructions was compared with the effects of adjunct postquestions, simply reading the materials (control group), and both instructions and adjunct postquestions. In this study, the task involved learning to classify instances of several different categories. The hypothesis was that advance instructions to students about how and what to learn could facilitate learning of classification material. Results showed that the instruction group and adjunct-questions group did equally well on classifying new and old instances of U.S. Navy call signs. All groups did better than the control groups. It appears that students can learn a general strategy for processing classification material. In general, the instructional implications of these results are that providing students with generic information about how and what to learn is an effective instructional strategy. If it is possible, students should be given instructions as well as questions.