Web-Based Reading Comprehension Instruction: Three Studies of 3D-Readers

Decades of research support the finding that strong text comprehenders use strategies when they read (National Reading Panel [NRP], 2000; Palincsar and Brown, 1984; Pressley, 2000). Strategy instruction traditionally has not received much time in the classroom (Durkin, 1978-1979). This situation has not changed appreciably over time. In fact, observational research suggests that strategy instruction is largely absent in classroom-based curricula and pedagogy. Furthermore, when strategy instruction is part of classroom curricula, its quality is often problematic in that the strategies are enacted in a routine fashion and rarely for the purpose of enhancing cognitive engagement (Garcia, Pearson, and Taylor, 2004).