Advance organizers are relevant and inclusive introductory materials, provided in advance of the learning materials, that serve to " bridge the gap between what the learner already knows and what he needs to know before he can meaningfully learn the task at hand" (Ausubel et al., 1978, pp. 171-172). Ausubel et. al. (1978) also stated, " organizers are presented at a higher level of abstraction, generality and inclusiveness than the new material to be learned" )p. 171). Consider why this might be so. For one thing, learners are likely to have somewhat idiosyncratic cognitive structures, and while it might be desirable to construct advance organizers for each and every learner to meet their unique needs, that is not a very practical strategy. Thus, organizers should be sufficiently general to function for a variety of learners. In addition, remember Ausubel's call for using the most inclusive and relatable concept of a discipline to guide learning. Constructing organizers more abstract and inclusive than the learning materials is one way of doing this.
The effectiveness of advance organizers for enhancing learning and retention of verbal materials was subject of great debate in the research literature, but in spite of contradictory finding, the concept has persisted. Some studies confirm the positive effects of advance organizers on learning. Others suggested that the facilitating effect might be limited to learners with low verbal or analytic ability. But research view canducted by Bames and Clawson (1975) and Hartley and Davies (1976) pointed to even more equivocal findings.
