Ponce, H. R., Mayer, R. E., & Méndez, E. E. (2025). Learner-Generated and Instructor-Provided Graphic Organizers as Aids to Learning from Text: A Meta-Analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 37(4), 107

Graphic organizers improved performance on memory and comprehension of texts by roughly {g=0.6}.

Q. Impact of having instructors provide the graphic organizer, vs. having learners write them?
A. Roughly the same effect (unlike outlining: [[Ponce, H. R., Mayer, R. E., & Méndez, E. E. (2023). Effects of learner-generated outlining and instructor-provided outlining on learning from text: A meta-analysis. Educational Research Review, 39, 100538]])

For learner-generated graphic organizers, the analysis yielded average effect sizes of g + = 0.59 for memory outcomes (p < .001, k = 44) and g + = 0.63 for comprehension outcomes (p < .001, k = 68), favoring the generative use of organizers. For instructor-provided graphic organizers, effect sizes were g + = 0.70 for memory (p < .001, k = 37) and g + = 0.53 for comprehension (p < .001, k = 49), indicating benefits as an instructional aid.

Last updated 2025-11-29.