iSTART-ALL: Confronting adult low literacy with intelligent tutoring for reading comprehension

Abstract

There is little empirical research available on the substantial problem of adult low literacy rates, and limited educational technologies are available to address distinct instructional needs of this population. This paper reports on development and testing of a version of Interactive Strategy Training for Active Reading and Thinking (iSTART) for Adult Literacy Learners (iSTART-ALL) We describe modifications of iSTART to accommodate adult literacy learners, including new practice modules (i.e., summarization, question asking), a new library of texts, and an interactive narrative for adult literacy learners to engage in extended practice of reading comprehension strategies. We report results of a study examining reactions to iSTART-ALL and performance data while engaging with the interactive narrative. The attitudinal study, conducted with 38 adult literacy learners, demonstrated generally positive reactions to the narrative. Results also revealed that task performance was strongly related to individual difference scores on reading comprehension assessments, and more so with higher-level comprehension skills than basic word-level skills, providing concurrent validity for the interactive narrative tasks.