What type of advance organizer helps students understand the context of new information by referencing previous lessons?

The term that best describes an advance organizer that helps students connect new information to prior knowledge by making comparisons is a Comparative Advance Organizer. This type of organizer allows learners to see the relationships between what they have already learned and the new material, thereby enhancing their understanding and retention. By drawing parallels or contrasts, students can assimilate new concepts within the framework of their existing knowledge, facilitating deeper comprehension.

A Comparative Advance Organizer often involves highlighting similarities or differences in concepts, which can aid students in organizing their thoughts and making sense of complex information. This is particularly effective in subjects where concepts can be related back to previous lessons or known ideas.

In contrast, the other types of advance organizers serve different purposes. A Progressive Advance Organizer introduces information that sequentially builds on previous knowledge but does not necessarily focus on comparison. A Contextual Advance Organizer emphasizes the situational context of learning, while an Expository Advance Organizer provides a summary of the content that will be encountered, rather than making comparisons to prior lessons. Each of these has its own role in facilitating learning, but for referencing previous lessons specifically through comparison, the Comparative Advance Organizer is most appropriate.