The effect of topic interest and prior knowledge on the predicted test questions of developmental college readers

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effects of topic interest and prior knowledge on predicted test questions of developmental college readers. A secondary purpose was to determine if overall differences in the quality of student generated predictions existed in multiple‐choice and essay questions. Seventy‐seven students enrolled in a university developmental reading course read passages in each of four conditions: high interest, high prior knowledge; high interest, low prior knowledge; low interest, high prior knowledge; and low interest, low prior knowledge. Students then were asked to predict multiple‐choice and essay questions that might appear on a college exam based on each passage. Student‐generated questions were evaluated in terms of accuracy of prediction, salience, clarity, and number of higher order questions. Results suggest that under certain conditions topic interest and prior knowledge can influence student‐generated questions, and that differential patterns of question construction emerge in multiple‐choice and essay conditions. Implications for future research are proposed.