This study investigates two types of notational resources in the WYNN electronic reading environment within a randomized controlled trial: digital voice notes and digital text notes.
Research Team:
William Schulte, Jonathon Mundorf, Sheri Wiseman, Lynne Anderson-Inman, Keith Smolkowski
Research Questions:
- When reading 5th grade science materials, is there is difference on tests of content knowledge for students when they create voice notes as compared to when they create text notes.?
- To what extent is there a qualitative or quantitative difference between students' voice notes and their text notes?
- Do students have a preference for using voice notes or text notes? To what extent to preferences match performance?
Description:
The first phase of this research was a pilot study conducted in one 5th grade classroom in Naples, Florida during November and Decemebr of 2007. In this study, 20 students were taught to use two types of notational resources in the WYNN reading software and then randomly assigned to either the treatment condition (voice notes) or the comparison condition (text notes). Students each read two supplementary 5th grade science texts within the WYNN reading environment with text-to-speech enabled, one in each condition, counterbalanced for order. The supplementary texts, entitled Forces at Work and All about Motion, were each about 15 pages in length and included questions embedded in the text. Students were asked to summarize each paragraph in their notes, and answer the embedded questions. Students were pre and post tested on the content in the science materials. Results showed that although students varied in their preference for notational system, more students with disabilities performed better on the post tests after using voice noices than using text notes.
Phase two will begin March 2008. Students from eight 5th grade classrooms will be randomly assigned within schools and within classrooms to either the treatment (voice notes) or comparison (text notes) condition. Pre and post tests covering the content of the 5th grade supplementary science texts will be administered before and after students read the materials in the computer lab. This second phase will begin in March 2008 and will require approximately 4 weeks (if implemented for one science unit) to 8 weeks (if implemented on two science units, with conditions reversed).
What we have learned so far:
What we do not yet know: