1. Investigating the Impact of Instructional Strategies to Support the Reading of Scientific Texts
Andrew Pola and Don Pata — Science Department, Grosse Pointe North High School
Set the size to 42 inches wide as that is the size of the GAM printer in SSB
You can try 42 tall by 48 wide and see how that goes but check the size for the poster session
Be sure to have one inch margins at least!!
Introduction
Reading a scientific text is a skill required to be a responsible and informed member of any community. However, many students lack this ability. A 2003 U.S Department of Education survey reveled that approximately 22% of people can at best read a short passage to find a single piece of information. Furthermore, in 2013 only 38% of high school graduates were classified as proficient readers by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Such statistics indicate a systemic problem. By providing structured readings and comprehension strategies we hoped to improve the ability of our students to develop and reinforce their understanding of scientific concepts. Regardless of standardized test scores or national surveys, content area teachers should integrate readings and supports to share their passion for their area of expertise. Long after students move on from high school, they can still fervently engage in science, government, literature or mathematics by reading.
In order to provide support we implemented strategies before and during the reading. Before the reading the instructor introduced the topic of the article along with leading a discussion to survey previous knowledge and misconceptions. Indeed, previous knowledge is a top determinant of comprehension1. A pre-reading activity stimulates established schema to which new information can be connected.
During the reading students were coached to use two tools. The first, was to summarize each paragraph with a short phrase in the margins. The second tool was the use of text coding in the margins. Students were instructed to use codes for main points, examples, questions and important vocabulary. Both of these strategies may help students effectively read the text by promoting self-monitoring, recall, analysis and questioning1.
Scores (%) w/o Strategies
Scores (%) w/ Strategies
Hon. Bio. 65 70
Reg. Bio.
49.5 52
Hon. Phys 79 87
Overall
64.5
Fig. 3. Scores from reading analysis questions with and without the use of instructional strategies
Conclusions
On average, students using the strategies scored higher on the reading analysis questions across all groups tested. At the individual level, 54% of students scored higher. We were not surprised by the disparity in effectiveness for each student. Every student brings a complex set of skills, emotions, and challenges that can impact academic achievement and a single approach cannot be expected to equally serve everyone in a classroom.
The methods we employed were very simple and could be used quickly in a variety of settings. Even though we observed positive results, the importance of other practices to improve reading ability cannot be understated. For example, decades of research support that students improve by reading more, selecting topics of interest, and reading a variety of texts at an appropriate level1. In the future we hope to continue designing our classroom to promote the analysis of informational text.
Results
54% of students showed a net improvement while 24% scored at the same level and 22% performed worse
A total of 89 students were in the control group and 108 in the treatment group
Methods
In order to assess the effect of the reading strategies, the students were divided into two groups. The control group was given two readings and corresponding questions (Fig. 1) within the same week. For this group, no strategies were implemented for either reading. The treatment group completed one reading and question set before the implementation of the strategies, and the second passage after the implementation. To control for the variation in difficulty between the two passages and sets of questions the average difference in scores between the two passages for the control group was subtracted or added to the difference between the scores of the treatment group. In total, the reading and analysis took place over a two week period.
Questions for Future Consideration
How do we balance student choice and specific content standards?
How do we more efficiently evaluate the difficulty and appropriateness of text and questions?
Where can we easily find suitable content specific passages?
Theme of the Passage as a Whole
Inference from Text
Vocabulary Word in Context
Evidence in the Writing
Locating Information
Function of Language
Literature cited
Daniels, Harvey, and Steven Zemelman. Subjects Matter: Every Teacher's Guide to Content-area Reading. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, Print.
Fig. 2. Net effect of reading strategies compared to the control group of students
Fig. 1. Six types of analysis questions used to gauge reading ability