Searching for Explanations in Science Trade Books: What can we learn from Coh-Metrix?

Given the importance of explanation in science texts for children, this research explored Coh-Metrix as a tool for rapidly determining the presence of explanations in science trade books. Variables from Coh-Metrix specifically addressing cause (causal content, causal cohesion, and positive causal co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of science education 2013-06, Vol.35 (8), p.1367-1384
Main Authors: Smolkin, Laura B., McTigue, Erin M., Yeh, Yi-fen Y.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Causal explanation
Causality
Coding
Cohesion
Content Analysis
Correlation
Correlation analysis
Discourse
Evaluation Methods
Explanation
Inferences
Predictor Variables
Science Education
Science trade books
Scientific Literacy
Textbook Content
Textbook Research
Textbooks
Variables
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Summary:Given the importance of explanation in science texts for children, this research explored Coh-Metrix as a tool for rapidly determining the presence of explanations in science trade books. Variables from Coh-Metrix specifically addressing cause (causal content, causal cohesion, and positive causal connectives) were correlated with an existing, high-inference causal variable from previous research. Moderate correlations were found for causal cohesion and positive causal connectives (both r(18)  =  0.46, p  
ISSN:0950-0693
1464-5289
DOI:10.1080/09500693.2011.593203