Writing about the Personal Utility of Learning Contents in a Learning Journal Improves Learning Motivation and Comprehension

Table 3

Means, standard deviations, and item difficulties of the comprehension test.

Item	Maximum score	Pretest			Posttest
		Mean	SD	ID	Mean	SD	ID
Please explain the differences between HIV and AIDS.	6	1.53	0.57	.26	3.59	0.83	.60
Why is “AIDS” so life threatening for humans? Provide two reasons.	2	0.83	0.39	.41	1.79	0.62	.90
Please name the different components of blood and their functioning.	6	1.68	1.03	.28	2.55	2.10	.43
Put yourself in the position of a red blood cell and run through the entire circulatory system. Start in the heart and explain each station you run through. What is happening to you?	4	0.47	0.72	.12	1.50	1.28	.38
Please explain why humans get childhood diseases (e.g., measles, mumps) only once.	4	0.57	0.72	.14	2.00	1.31	.50

Note. SD: standard deviation; ID: item difficulty.