Evaluating the efficacy of matrix ideational frameworks
Read about how using matrix diagrams as a learning aid helped upper secondary students write better summaries for their GCE 'O' level exams.
Last updated 9 September 2026
Poh, S. K. (2005). The value of ideational frameworks for helping upper secondary students in their summary writing tasks (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from http://libris.nie.edu.sg/
Background
The author observed that a number of students faced difficulties in understanding relationships among ideas in a text, thus encountering challenges in summary writing.
Aims
This study examined whether teaching students to use matrix ideational frameworks as scaffolding helped upper secondary students in summary tasks based on expository writing in the GCE ‘O’ level examinations.
Sample
Thirty-one Secondary 4 Express stream students participated in the study.
Method
The matrix was a graphic representation of the information structure in terms of PROBLEM and SOLUTION and the parts of the text that signalled them. It helped students analyse the rhetorical structures of summary texts. Here is an example of the matrix that was used in the study:
Example problem-solution matrix for a language teaching scenario
Situation | Signal for problem | Problem | Signal for solution | Solution | Results (indicate positive or negative) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Charles was a language teacher | Unable | His students unable to write coherently | Taught | He taught them discourse analysis | Write novels (positive) |
In the pre-intervention phase, the students completed a summary writing task, enumerating a list of the content points they extracted from the text. During the intervention, the students were taught how to use the matrix. During the post-intervention phase, the students practised using the matrix and completed a summary writing task using the same text as in the pre-intervention task. The students listed their content points in matrix form. The effect of teaching the matrix was analysed by comparing the scores and content points given for the pre- and post-intervention summary tasks.
Findings
The findings showed that in the post-intervention test, 15 students obtained a higher score, seven a lower score, and five the same score. The author found that twelve students had more content points, seven fewer content points, and three the same number of content points. The author believed that the decrease seems to cast doubt on the efficacy of the matrix, but in fact had nothing to do with it. This could be attributed to the ambiguity of the expected answers.
Implications
The author concluded that the matrix was beneficial as a pedagogical scaffold to produce more cohesive writing.
Original article retrieved from NIE Digital Repository (opens in new tab).