The 3H strategy : improving the comprehension of learning disabled and poor readers through a question-answering strategy

This study investigated the efficacy of the 3H strategy in enhancing the comprehension of learning disabled (LD) and poor readers. The 3H strategy which is based on Raphael's question-answer relationship research (e.g., Raphael, 1982; Raphael & McKinney, 1983) uses the mnemonics Here, Hidden, and in my Head (the 3Hs) to indicate questions and answers that are text explicit, text implicit, and script implicit. In addition, 3H strategy training provides students with explicit instruction about how to answer questions and use text information appropriately, as well as activating and providing relevant backgound knowledge for these tasks. In this study, 10 LD students and 16 poor readers learned the 3H strategy by applying it to grade-appropriate social studies materials in small groups within their classrooms. To control for differences in decoding skill, all passages were first read aloud to students as they followed the text. Trained students' comprehension performance was compared to that of 10 average students not taught the strategy. Results indicate that the 3H strategy increased the comprehension of LD and poor readers to a level comparable with that of average untrained students, Students maintained this gain on delayed maintenance tests administered four months after training. Within the trained group, comprehension scores of LD students were consistently higher than those of poor readers. With regard to specific question types, the 3H strategy was effective in facilitating students' comprehension of text implicit and script implicit questions, particularly for LD students whose improved comprehension was largely due to correctly answering more script implicit questions. Analyses of responses to questionnaires and interviews administered before and after training reveal that students who learned the 3H strategy increased their metacognitive awareness of comprehension processes and their ability to describe the task demands of question-answering. Implications of these findings for research and practice are offered.