The Effect of Reciprocal Teaching on Comprehending Content Area Text

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the comprehension of content area material through the Reciprocal Teaching and the Basic Teaching Methods. The subjects involved were twenty-four students in a fourth grade urban school setting. There was one heterogeneously group of students who were instructed using the two different teaching strategies. All students involved received instruction on four chapters of their social studies text. Two of the four chapters were taught using the Basic Teaching Method, while the other two chapters were taught using the Reciprocal Teaching Method. During each method, the class completed workbook pages and participated in class discussion on text. The reciprocal teaching time was divided into small groups of four to five students. A two-tailed t test was used to determine the effect on comprehension that the varying methods may have had. The results revealed a statistically significant difference between the two methods. The Reciprocal Teaching Method outperformed the Basic Teaching Method to significant degree.