Saturday, August 9, 2008

Levels of Comprehension in Reading.

The three levels of comprehension, or sophistication of thinking, are presented in the following hierarchy from the least to the most sophisticated level of reading.

Least = surface, simple reading

Most = in-depth, complex reading

LEVEL ONE

LITERAL - what is actually stated

Facts and details

Rote learning and memorization

Surface understanding only

TESTS in this category are objective tests dealing with true / false, multiple choice and fill-in-the blank questions.

Common questions used to illicit this type of thinking are who, what, when, and where questions.

LEVEL TWO

INTERPRETIVE - what is implied or meant, rather than what is actually stated.

Drawing inferences

Tapping into prior knowledge / experience

Attaching new learning to old information

Making logical leaps and educated guesses

Reading between the lines to determine what is meant by what is stated.

TESTS in this category are subjective, and the types of questions asked are open-ended, thought-provoking questions like why, what if, and how.

LEVEL THREE

APPLIED - taking what was said (literal) and then what was meant by what was said (interpretive) and then extend (apply) the concepts or ideas beyond the situation.

Analyzing

Synthesizing

Applying

In this level we are analyzing or synthesizing information and applying it to other information.

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