Date of Award
2012
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Abraham S. Fischler College of Education
Advisor
Michaele Lemrow
Committee Member
Anne Joslin
Committee Member
Ronald P. Kern
Keywords
computer assisted instruction, control group, databases, descriptive statistics, elementary schools, fifth-grade students, gender differences, Iowa Test of Basic Skills, nonrandomized control group design, posttest, pretest, quasi-experimental research, reading comprehension, reading comprehension booster, reading fluency, reading intervention, reciprocal teaching, reciprocal teaching strategies, software-based instruction, SPSS, standardized reading assessments, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, student achievement, technology-based learning, educational technology, interactive software, literacy instruction, reading performance, reading proficiency, reading scores, research-based instruction, assessment of reading, classroom intervention, comprehension deficits, confidence intervals, control and experimental groups, educational outcomes, instructional effectiveness, literacy development, merit software, reading achievement, reading assessments, reading improvement, reading instruction, reading skills, student learning, teaching strategies, test score gains, fifth-grade reading, computerized learning, intervention effectiveness, academic achievement, educational research, literacy education, student performance, technology integration, reading education, instructional strategies, quantitative analysis, school-based intervention, standardized testing, learning outcomes, digital learning tools, literacy intervention, comprehension skills, classroom research, reading development, educational assessment, student literacy, intervention program, academic performance, reading support, literacy skills, evidence-based instruction
Abstract
This applied dissertation was designed to examine the effectiveness of a computer-based reading program and reciprocal teaching strategies on reading comprehension skills of a group of 5th-grade students. Some 5th-grade students at the research site were deficient in their reading comprehension performance. Results from the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and Academy of Reading assessments demonstrated their comprehension deficits. This research was guided by 3 research questions:
1. Will participation in a computer-assisted instruction reading program and reciprocal teaching strategies increase the reading comprehension scores of a group of 5th-grade students by at least 10% as measured by the Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading?
2. Will participation in the computer-assisted instruction program and reciprocal teaching strategies evidence a significant difference in the reading comprehension performance between those students who participated in the program and those who do not?
3. Will participation in the computer-assisted instruction program and reciprocal teaching strategies evidence a significant difference in reading performance between girls and boys?
A quasi-experimental research design was utilized using a nonrandomized, control group, pretest-and-posttest method. From the same class, 20 5th-grade students participated in 30 minutes of computer-based reading instruction using the Reading Comprehension Booster, a research-based interactive software program designed to improve reading comprehension, by Merit Software and 20 minutes of reciprocal teaching strategies 3 times per week for a period of 12 weeks. Students (24) from another 5th-grade reading class served as the control group and received no intervention.
The preintervention and postintervention data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences to determine whether or not reading comprehension increased by 10%. Results indicated a mean scale score of 479.19 pretest and 581.62 posttest. The mean scale score change was 102.43, an increase of over 21%. The average change was significant and positive as the 95% confidence interval for the mean was bound by 51.83 and 153.02. The results from descriptive statistics showed significant difference in students’ reading comprehension performance from pretest to posttest. There were no significant difference in the posttest between students who participated in the program and those who did not and no significant difference between genders. Overall, the data analysis supported the effectiveness of computer-assisted instruction with reciprocal teaching strategies in improving reading comprehension.