Research into Practice: Improving the Understanding of Textbooks.

Marginal and other intratext notations (gloss) can be used as an instructional technique to direct readers' active attention to (1) places in text where the application of specific skills would be appropriate (either for teaching or for encouraging the application of specific skills), (2) instances where a particular strategy could be useful for extracting meaning, and (3) key words and ideas. While glossing offers an effective way to deal with specific skills, its focus should be broadened to include the more general strategies that efficient readers use to understand text. Gloss activities should be directed toward enhancing the understanding of specific text content even as they shape the development of skills and strategies for generalizing. The effectiveness of gloss activites that claim a dual focus on content and process must ultimately be demonstrated by a specific effort (content directed) as well as a more general effort (process directed). Attention must also be given to the complex and interacting constraints and considerations of the learning environment, and any possible need for "excursions" either to augment information in the text at hand or to enhance the learner's skills and strategies. (HOD)