Data Analysis

Today at SFU was very beneficial because I was able to better wrap my head around the concept of data analysis.  I have previously done a type of data analysis before for my PDP program a few years ago.  I am not worried about compiling and making sense of my data when I am finished collecting data this week at school.  I have a good understanding of how to take the data and interpret it to write the final document for the Field Study.  I wish I was finished collecting my data so I could start on the interpretation now while my mind is wraped around it all, but I guess I’ll have to wait for another week.

Data Collection Process

I am finding that the data collection process is not as tedious as I originally thought it would be.  Each day after teaching, I take some time to write a quick reflection of how things went, what changes I would make for next time and other observations.  I have always disliked journaling and still do, but am finding it useful to write my thoughts rather than just discuss them with colleagues.  I do like to chat first with someone before I write though to understand other’s perspectives.  I started the field study with some questionnaires and evaluative techniques to determine my students knowledge is on the topic we are studying.  Each day that I teach them, we are working hard towards using different techniques to aquire vocabulary and have begun to use this vocabulary in reading comprehension activities.  I am keeping copies of students work as a form of data collection as well.  When I am nearing the end of my study, I plan to use the same questionnaires and evaluative techniques as I used at the beginning of the study to see concretely what they have learned and gained from this study.  Most of my data collection is qualitative, but there is a little bit of quantitative because I want to be able to understand more about what they have learned and the processes in which they learned.

The Research Process

I am finding that the research process is very time consuming and somewhat frustrating.  I have taken out books from the SFU library and gone through most of them briefly to determine their validity to my field study topic.  I have also found some articles that are very valid and will help support my thoughts about the importance of a strong mathematical vocabulary to enhance reading comprehension.  Most of the articles that I have found all believe that developing vocabulary for any subject is important in ones reading comprehension ability.  The viewpoints of some of the articles differ in the way in which vocabulary development occurs; however, it is interesting to see how there are little similarities amongst many of the articles.  I would have thought that there would be a more glaring variety of viewpoints amongst educators and researchers.  Overall, the research process is a lengthy process, but a very valuable process that is necessary to developing a solid field study.

Increasing Reading Comprehension through Vocabulary Development

Vocabulary development is a critical aspect for increasing reading comprehension.  It is well known among educators that increased vocabulary and understanding of words helps students comprehend the passages they read whether fiction or non-fiction.  There is a strong relationship between reading ability and word knowledge since the early days of research on reading.  Reading comprehension and word knowledge are highly correlated in both children and adults (Boulware-Gooden, Carreker, Thornhill & Joshi, 2007).

Reading comprehension is important to educators because it plays an integral role in a person’s understanding of text.  If one can’t understand what they are reading, why bother reading?  The educator’s primary responsibility is to prepare and equip students with the necessary tools to survive in society.  The ability to read and to understand what is being read is one of the most important skills to have.  As educators we understand the importance of teaching reading and reading comprehension.  Vocabulary development is one means to increasing the understanding of text.

In reading both of the articles, a general question can be formed: What type of instruction best facilitates the development of comprehension and vocabulary?  Boulware-Gooden et al. (2007) believe that metacognitive comprehension strategies for reading instruction are the best way to increase comprehension in students reading.  Vocabulary instruction should be focused on synonyms, antonyms and related words rather than using the word in a sentence.  In their study, they found that students who only put new words in a sentence and defined the word had a difficult time remembering and understanding the word fully when shown the new word again at a later date.  The groups of students who created semantic webs to connect related words to new vocabulary and created multiple meaning web displays were able to understand the new vocabulary more thoroughly and were later able to recall the word meanings.  Boulware-Gooden et al. (2007) believe that direct instruction by the teacher is the most effective way to increase students understanding of written text, which is the reason for reading. 

The second article written by Cain, Lemmon, & Oakhill (2004) believe that the best way to gain vocabulary knowledge to increase reading comprehension is to allow the students to read with inference from the text rather than being told what a word means through direct instruction.  In their studies they used “novel” words, words that were made up but could be deciphered by reading the text around the word.  They found that the students who were given direct instruction were weak in both vocabulary and comprehension and required more repetition to learn new words.  A similarity between both of the article studies is that students who were given direct instruction through the means of just giving a definition and not expanding on the definition had a lower comprehension level. 

I agree with Boulware-Gooden et al. (2007) and their successful approach to vocabulary development and reading comprehension using direct instruction with metacognitive comprehension strategies.  This form of instruction is a thorough and deep study of new vocabulary words and gives the students more contexts to compare the new words.  I don’t think that by having students try to figure out vocabulary through inference when reading a text is the best approach.  The lower comprehending students may not understand enough of the words around the new vocabulary to decipher what the new word means.  Also, just trying to figure a word out from the context of the sentence doesn’t mean that the students fully understand the word and would be able to use the word in their own writing or understand the word when it comes up in reading text again. 

I am excited to try the direct instruction using metacognitive comprehension strategies in the future with my students.  The Inspiration program is a great way to graphically organize the synonyms and antonyms in a visual way to help the students understand the new words. 

Vocabulary development is a key aspect to increasing reading comprehension, but what other aspects need to be addressed?  How does one measure the change in reading comprehension when focusing on vocabulary development?  What is the most effective way to measure this change?

Annotated Bibliography

 Boulware-Gooden, R., Carreker, S., Thornhill, A. & Joshi, R.A.(2007). Instruction of Metacognitive Strategies Enhances Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Achievement of Third Grade Students.  The Reading Teacher, 61(1), 70-77. Retrieved June 24, 2008, from EBSCO Host Research Database.

This article was a study to determine the effectiveness of systematic direct instruction of multiple metacognitive strategies to help students with reading comprehension of text. Reading comprehension and vocabulary development was investigated to determine whether metacognitive strategies led to an increase in the reading comprehension of text. In addition, the investigation was also designed to determine the impact of the metacognitive strategies on vocabulary development.

Cain, K., Lemmon, K. & Oakhill, J (2004).  Individual Differences in the Inference of Word Meanings From Context: The Influence of Reading, Comprehension, Vocabulary Knowledge, and Memory Capacity.  Journal of Educational Psychology, 96(4), 671-681. Retrieved June 24, 2008, from EBSCO Host Research Database.

This article investigated two studies about the ability to use contextual information in text to infer the meanings of vocabulary.  The implications for the relation between vocabulary development and text comprehension are discussed.  The study found that using direct instruction tasks, children needed more repetition to learn the definition of new words. 

Field Study Question

How will reading comprehension improve with a classroom focus on vocabulary development?

I am excited to explore this area with my colleagues Penny and Kim and to share our information with the staff at our school as this question pertains to our school goal.

Creating A Focus on Student-Relevant Teaching

Are traditionalist teachers ready and willing to give up their control of the students learning?

Shouldn’t teachers be equipping their students with more practical tools to prepare them for their future?

Is “media literacy” a new life skill that needs to be taught in the schools?

Don’t teachers try to relate their lessons and assignments to their students experiences?  Therefore, shouldn’t we as teachers focus on teaching through the media that students participate in their daily life?

Will history lessons become a thing of the past, or is there a way to connect facts with multimedia?

Don’t most people learn and retain informatio best when they are a part of the process and get to “play” and “do”?

It is well known in the educational field that hands-on learning truly engages the learner and allows them to make meaningful connections between life and learning.

If education is moving towards manipulatives and making connections for students between themselves and the world around them, doesn’t technology play a major role in this shift of learning?

I think that students should take some control of the teaching in the classroom because the learning will be more relevant to the students.  The students will learn a lot from preparing their information and researching about the topic/subject that they are learning about.  When the teacher gives the reigns to the students in the classroom, the students will become more engaged in the learning process.