Recall of Descriptive Information: The Roles of Presentation Format, Annotation Strategy, and Individual Differences

The benefits of using a comprehensive annotation strategy (employing underlining/circling, making connections, asking questions, and making comments) with knowledge maps (spatial/verbal arrays) and traditional, linear text to improve free recall scores for learners with individual differences in vocabulary and comprehension ability were examined. Types and frequencies of annotations generated were also examined for each stimulus format condition. Multiple regression analyses indicate that the frequency of use of two component annotation strategies, asking questions and making connections, were significant predictors of recall scores, while frequency of underlining/circling and generating elaborations failed to predict recall scores. Text users generated more underlining/circling, while knowledge map users generated more connections between ideas, suggesting that knowledge maps may facilitate the application of more productive annotation strategies. Also examined were the interrelationships between vocabulary ability, comprehension ability, and free recall scores.