Journal of Teacher Action Research 1 JTAR · JTAR About the Journal Founded in 2013, the Journal of...

JournalofTeacherActionResearch1

JournalofTeacherActionResearch-Volume5,Issue3,2019,practicalteacherresearch.com,ISSN#2332-2233

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JTAR EDITORS

JTAR JournalofTeacherActionResearchVolume5,Issue3,2019

MaintainingScientificLiteracyinaDigitalAge:TheTransitionofaHighSchoolBiology 4ClassfromPaperTextbookstoDigitalTextResourcesLisaCatalanoGizasExaminingtheEffectofLanguage-BasedInstructionalInterventionsinELLandNon-ELL 18LanguageProductionandTask-OrientedBehaviorinElementaryMath,Science,andSocialStudiesClassroomsMaggieHoodyJoannaYangYowlerMicheleLink-ValensteinAnnaBantiKrystleEilenAndreaSaenzHeidiSaariChrisPierretMathematicsStationsintheThirdGradeClassroom:AreTheyWorthIt? 38RachelPerrySurveyingtheLinguisticNeedsofTeamMembersTravelingtoPuertoRicofora 61Short-TermServiceLearningTripMeganA.DeVossRobertA.GriffinDevelopingCriticalThinking,Justification,andGeneralizationSkillsinMathematics 85ThroughSocraticQuestioningMeighanDuffyManuelaHeinzEffectiveMathematicsInstructionforNativeAmericanElementaryStudents:Strategies 99forUsingManipulativesTraciSteigelmeierJarretD.Moore

JTAR AbouttheJournal

Foundedin2013,theJournalofTeacherActionResearch(ISSN:2332-2233)isapeer-reviewedonlinejournalindexedwithEBSCOthatseekspracticalresearchthatcanbeimplementedinPre-Kindergarten

throughPost-Secondaryclassrooms.Theprimaryfunctionofthisjournalistoprovideclassroomteachersandresearchersameansforsharingclassroompractices.

Thejournalacceptsarticlesforpeer-reviewthatdescribeclassroompracticewhichpositivelyimpactsstudentlearning.Wedefineteacheractionresearchasteachers(atalllevels)studyingtheirpracticeand/ortheirstudents'learninginamethodicalwayinordertoinformclassroompractice.Articlessubmittedtothejournalshoulddemonstrateanactionresearchfocuswithintenttoimprovethe

author’spractice.

EditorialTeam

Co-EditorsGilbertNaizer,Ph.D. AprilSanders,Ph.D.

TexasA&MUniversity-Commerce SpringHillCollege

AssociateEditorsLauraIsbell,Ph.D. TamiMorton,Ph.D. SusanWilliams

TexasA&MUniversity-Commerce TexasA&MUniversity-CommerceTexasA&MUniversity-Commerce

ProductionEditorandWebmasterChaseYoung,Ph.D.

SamHoustonStateUniversity

www.practicalteacherresearch.com

THEJOURNALOFTEACHERACTIONRESEARCH 4

JournalofTeacherActionResearch- Volume5,Issue3,2019,<practicalteacherresearch.com>,ISSN#2332-2233©JTAR.AllRights

MAINTAININGSCIENTIFICLITERACYINADIGITALAGE:THETRANSITIONOFAHIGHSCHOOLBIOLOGYCLASSFROMPAPERTEXTBOOKSTODIGITALTEXTRESOURCES

LisaCatalanoGizas

WestMorrisCentralHighSchool

AbstractAtthestartofthe2017schoolyear,administratorsatthehighschoolwhereIamateacher,implementedaswitchfrompapertextbookstofree,digitalresources(thatincludetexts)forallincomingfreshmenstudents.Bothmy9thgradeon-grade-levelBiologystudentsandIunexpectedlyfoundourselvesatthedawnoftheDigitalEducationAge.Forme,thatmeanttheeliminationofpapertextbooksfrommycurriculum,andthereforethelossoftheprimaryresourceIhadthatstudentsusedtopracticeanddevelopclosetechnicalreadingskills.AllofthestudiesthatIhavereadonreadingshowthatstudentsloseliteracywhenreadingonascreenversuspaper.However,thispaperwilldescribethejourneyofmystudentsandmeaswedevelopedandimplementeddigitalreadingstrategiestomaintainthelevelofscientificliteracythatformerstudentswerecapableofreachingthroughtheuseofpapertextbooks.Mostagreethatmoderneducationisswiftlymovinginthedigitaldirection.Thispaperisacalltosecondaryteacherswhomustrecognizethattheemphasisoncontentmemorizationisdiminishingwhiletheemphasisonscientificliteracyisexpounding,thatrelyingonvideosandinteractivestoteachcontentignoresthestudent’sneedtopracticescientificliteracyskills,andthatteachersofanylevelorsubjectmustusedigitalreadingstrategiestotrainstudentstoreadmindfullyinordertocombatthesignificantdipinliteracythedigitalworldpresents.

Keywords:teacheractionresearch,textbook,scientificliteracy,digitaltext

Introduction

Although“literacy”isdefinedastheabilitytoreadandwrite,“scientificliteracy”isdefinedinpartassomeonewhocan“readarticleswithunderstandingofscienceinpopularpressandengageinsocialconversationaboutthevalidityofconclusions”(NationalScience



EducationStandards,1996).Inthispresenttimeperiod,scientificliteracymaybeoneofthemostimportantskillsapersonneedstodevelopinordertohavesuccessintheirpersonallifeandtheircareer.AsNeildeGrasseTysonstates:“Partofwhatitistobescientifically-literate,it'snotsimply,'DoyouknowwhatDNAis?OrwhattheBigBangis?'That'sanaspectofscienceliteracy.Thebiggestpartofitisdoyouknowhowtothinkaboutinformationthat'spresentedinfrontofyou”(Gardinier,2017).Wolf(2018)notedthattraditionalpapertextbooksweresetuptofosterthinking,butdigitalcontentisnot.Ifmembersofoursociety,especiallyleadersofoursociety,donotdeveloptheabilitytothinkaboutinformationpresentedtothem,then,asMr.Tysonstates,“...youarenotaparticipantinthefutureoftheworld”(Gardinier,2017).

Inordertobothreducetheannualbudgetandtojustifythedistrict’s1:1technologyinitiative,theBoardofEducationoverseeingtheschoolwhereIworkdecidedthatbeginninginthe2017-2018schoolyear,nonewprinttextbookswouldbepurchased,andnoneshouldbegivenouttoeitherthefreshmanorsophomoreclasses(thosewithchromebooks).Teacherswereinstructedtoonlyusedigitaltextbookresources.TheScienceSupervisoratthedistrictspecificallydirectedscienceteacherstobeginusingtheCK-12resourcecreatedbytheCK-12Foundation(CK-12Foundation)andthespecificuseoftheBiologytextonthatsite(Brainardetal.,2017).

Iimmediatelyquestionedthisinitiativefromastandpointofscientificliteracy.Iregularlyusemanyonlineresourcesinmyclassroomascontent-specificsupplementstothepapertextbookandnoticedatrendamongstudentstonotreadanydigitalarticlestheywereassigned.Forexample,ifIassignedanonlinearticleandgaveahomeworksheettogoalongwithit,studentsscannedthequestionsonthehomeworksheetandlookedforkeywords.Theyusedshortcuts,primarilythe“find”shortcut(“CTRL+F”),whichpromptedthecomputertoscantheentirearticleforthatsinglekeyword.Then,thestudentjustreadafewsentencesaroundthatkeywordtofindtheanswertothequestion.Moreoften,studentsavoidedreadingthearticle,andhadadifficulttimediscussingitinclassthenextday.Thesekindsofshortcutswerenotpossiblewithprintedmaterial,andstudentshadbeenmorelikelytoreadtheirpapertextbookandweremoresuccessfulindiscussingwhattheyreadwhentheycametoclassthenextday.MydeepconcernwasthatbyeliminatingtheonlyBoard-approvedresourceIhadthatpromotedscientificliteracyandreplacingitwithsomethingonlinethatissoeasily“searchable,”studentsweregoingtolosetheirscientificliteracyskills.

Andtherefore,Ihavecometothegenesisofmyquestion.Inthischangingeducationalclimate,howcouldIusethemandatedCK-12onlinetextbookinsuchawaythatscientificliteracywasnotlost?HowcouldIbestusethisresourcetoencouragecomprehensionofbigideasandoverarchingconcepts?Inshort,howcouldIensurethatstudentsarereadingtheentirepassage?AsmanyotherschoolsacrossAmericaareexperiencingsimilarchange,Ibelievethisquestionisonthemindsofmanyteachers,andthoseatthestartofthisjourneywillbenefitfrommyexperience.



LiteratureReview

TraditionalReadingStrategiesDoNotTranslateToDigitalMedia.In2007,Wolfpublished“ProustandtheSquid,”ahistoryofthescienceanddevelopmentofthereadingbrainfromantiquitytothetwenty-firstcentury.Hercoreobservationwasthat“humanbeingswereneverborntoread,”andthatreadingisnotgeneticallyacquired,itisahumaninventionthatmustbetaught(Wolf,2007).Theresponsesshereceivedtothebookoverwhelminglycarriedonetheme:themorereadingmovedonline,thelessstudentsseemedtounderstand.Sheexploredthisthemeinherfollow-upbook,notingthatthestrategiesemployedfordeepreading,anddevelopingaconnectiontothematerial,arenottobefoundindigitalmedia.Sheaptlytitledthisbook,“Reader,ComeHome,”encouragingareturntopaperbooks(Wolf,2018).

DifferencesBetweenPrintTextandDigitalText.ThefollowingcontemporaryresearchechoesWolf’sfindings.Forexample,AnneMangen’sgroupnotedthatreadinginvolvestheergonomicsandhapticsofthemedium-thetangibilityofpaperversustheintangibilityofsomethingdigital.Thescreenseemedtoencouragemoreskimmingbehavior,andpeoplereadmorequickly(andlessdeeply)thanwhenpaperwasused.Onlinereadingwithembeddedlinks,videos,andinteractiveshadsuchanoverloadofinformationthatpeoplereadmorequickly(andlessdeeply)tocompensate(Mangenetal.,2013).ZimingLiu(2005)foundthatonscreen,peopletendedtobrowseandscan,tolookforkeywordsandtoreadinalesslinear,moreselectivefashion.However,onpaper,readersconcentratedmoreonfollowingthetext.Skimmingonlineleadtotheinabilitytostopanddrawone’sownconclusions.Dyson(2004)describedhowonlinereadersbecamefatiguedeasilybytheconstantneedtofilterouthyperlinksandotherdistractions,andthattheeyesthemselvesbecamefatiguedfromtheconstantshiftinscreenlayouts,colors,andcontrasts.Fromtheseexperts,Konnikova(2014)founddigitalreadingtobesuperficialandexhausting.

ComparingComprehension(PaperversusDigital).Inmyclassroom,Iwasfocusedonhowthenewlyimplementeddigitalbiologytextbookwouldcomparetotheprintoneinbothcomprehensionandliteracy.Mangen(2013)didastudybyaskingonegrouptoreadashortstoryonpaper,whileanothergroupreaditdigitally.Theywerethenaskedtoplaceaseriesofeventsfromthestoryinchronologicalorder.Theprintgroupfaredsignificantlybetterthanthedigitalgroup,leadinghertoconcludethatthephysicalmaterialityofthepaperresourcematteredforbasiccomprehension.

AttentionToReadingTasks(PaperversusDigital).Asfarasonlineresourcesfosteringdeepscientificliteracy,itmaycomedowntoastudent’sself-control.Toreadanassignmentonpaper,astudentmustmonitorthemselvesonlyonce-topickupthebookandopenit.Toreadanassignmentdigitally,withsomanydistractions,themonitoringandself-regulationcyclehappensoverandover.Itispredictedthatthosestudentswhocannoteasilyfocustheirattentionwillexperiencediminishedlevelsofcomprehensionandliteracywhenreadingonline(Konnikova,2014).



WhyIsDigitalReadingPopular?Inmyresearchoftheliterature,Icouldnotfindanycounterargumentsthatwouldgiveevidencefordigitalreadingbeingbetterforstudentcomprehension.Sowithexpertconsensusbeingthatreadingdigitallyisnotasbeneficialforastudentaspaperwas,whyiseducationtrendinginthisdirection?InresearchdonebyWallis(2017),shenotedthatwhenstudentswereaskediftheyreadbetterinprintordigitalmedia,theywouldoverwhelminglyrespondthattheydidbetterindigitalmedia.Shefoundthisveryoddasherresearchshowedtheywerenot"readingbetter."Wallisarguesthatthestudentsareequating“readingbetter”with“readingfaster”andassumingthatbecausetheywerereadingfasterthattheyunderstooditbetter.

DigitalReadingStrategies.Withouthavingeverlearnedanydigitalreadingstrategiesmyself,Ionlythoughttoapplythosewhichhadbeensuccessfulformeonpaper,andwhichIfoundtobeeasilyavailableontheCK-12website-codedhighlightingandannotation.Schwartz(2016)wrotein,“StrategiesToHelpStudents‘GoDeep’WhenReadingDigitally,”waysthatstudentscanutilizethetoolsavailableinaGoogleDoc.Itisimportanttonotethathemakesthestudentsdotheworkofcodedhighlighting,annotation,andoutlinedevelopment,ratherthanusingacomputerprogramthatwilldothatforthestudent(Schwartz,2016).Thisisexactlysimilartodoingwhatcanbedoneonpaper(althoughnotinschool-issuedbooks),butwasdonedigitally,andwasveryeffective.Formyworkhere,IaimedtofollowHess’sinitiative-useavailablereadingstrategies,andmakethestudentsdotheworkwhenreading.

Methodology

Participants.Inthe2017-2018schoolyear,Iwasinmysixthyearteachingatasmallrural,non-diversepublichighschoolinNewJersey.Itisoneofonly18publicInternationalBaccalaureateWorldHighSchoolsinNewJersey(Iborganization,2018).In2018theschoolrankedwithinthetop20highschoolsinNewJersey(Schlager,2018).Itaughtthreesectionsofon-grade-levelfreshmanBiologyforatotalof58students,themajorityofwhichhadavarietyofaccommodationsforlearningdifferences.Allofthesestudentsreceivedachromebook,andthiswasmyfirsttimenotassigningapapertextbooktotheseclasses,aspermyschoolboard’sdecisions.

Question.Withtheeliminationofthepapertextbookandtheadoptionofthedigitalonlinetextbook,myresearchquestionisclear:HowcouldmystudentsandI(astheirteacher)usereadingstrategiesinadigitalBiologytextbooktoenhancecomprehensionwhilemaintainingscientificliteracy?

DataTools.BeforelookingattheCK-12site,Isentoutasurveytothe140teachersinthedistricttogaugetheirlevelofcomfortinassigningandusingdigitaltextbooks.Iwashopingtofindsomerespondentswhowouldbeabletoguidemethroughmyownswitchtothisnewresource.InextsetouttosurveymysixtyincomingfreshmenBiologystudents,todiscoverwhethertheypreferredprintordigitaltextbooksandtolettheirresponsesguidemyeducationandimplementationofnewdigitalreadingstrategies.



Ikeptajournalthroughouttheresearch,andinterviewedmysupervisor,theCEOofthedigitaltextbookassignedtome,andspentnumeroushourswithmyco-teacherrefiningtheresourceandensuringthatthestudentswouldhaveabeneficialreadingexperience.Withdailycollaborationandreflection,IwasabletodevelopareadingexperiencethatIfeltmaximizedtheskillsofscientificliteracy.

Finally,Iwantedtocomparetestscoresfrom2016(papertextbooks)with2017(digitaltextresources)toensurethatstudentsbeinggiventhenewdigitalmediumcouldperformaswellonassessmentsaspriorclasses.

ResultsandDiscussion

Twenty-seventeachersrespondedtotheteachersurvey,representingaroughlyequaldistributionofgradestaught(33.3%9thgradeteachers,29.6%10thgradeteachers,22.2%11thgradeteachers,and14.8%12thgradeteachers).Myfirstquestiontothoseteacherswas,“Haveyoureplacedyourpapertextbookwithadigitaltextbook?”TheresultsareshowninFigure1.Thisfigureindicatesthattwo-thirdsofteachershaveorwillbeswitchingtodigitaltextbooks,whileone-thirddonotplanondoingsonoworever.

Figure1:Teacherresponsestothequestion,“Haveyoureplacedyourpapertextbookwithadigitaltextbook?”

Sixteenteachersrespondedtothesurveythattheywereswitchingtodigitaltextbooksthatyear,asIwas,orplanningtoswitchinsomefutureyear.Iwasmostinterestedintheresponsesfromthisgroup.Mostinthisgrouprespondedthattheyweremakingtheswitchbecausetheir“supervisortoldthemto.”Thisgroupreportedthatdigitaltextbookshavemanyadvantagesincludingeaseofaccess,interactives,andvideos.Whenaskedwhichmediumprovidesthebestlevelofliteracyforstudents,themajorityofthisgroupfeltthelevelofliteracywouldbethesame,nomatterwhichresourceisused.Thirty-eightpercentofrespondentsinthisgroupreportedthattheyhavenoideawhatkindofdigitalreadingstrategiestheyshouldbemodelingorteaching.Asthiswasthecruxofmyresearchquestion,Ifoundthisincrediblyjarring,andanindicationthatadministratorsdon’tfullyunderstandtheimpactoftheirdecisionsonthestudents,astheyaren’tadequately



preparingtheteachersforactuallyusingthenewresource.AsahighschoolBiologyteacher,Ihadnevermodeledortaughtreadingstrategies,anditappearsthatmostteachersatmyhighschoolhavenotdonesoeither,andcertainlynotinadigitalformat.Istillbelievedthatbeingscientificallyliteratewasanessentialskill,butIrealizedIwouldbenavigatingthedigitalreadingstrategiesworldwithoutpeersupport.

StudentPreparedness.IsurveyedmystudentsbeforeintroducingthemtotheCK-12textbookresourcetobeusedinthisclass.TheresultsareshowninFigure2.Thisfigureindicatesthat36.7%ofstudentspreferpaper,while35%preferreddigital,andtheremaining28.3%wereundecidedordonotusetextbooks.

Figure2:Studentresponsestothequestion,“Doyoupreferatraditionalpapertextbookordoyoupreferadigitaltextbook?”

Studentswereaboutevenlysplitbetweenpreferringeitherthepapertextbookorthedigitaltextbook.Inthegroupthatpreferredpapertextbooks,onecommentwas,“Ienjoyreadingwhilenotusingthescreen,andturningthepagesisjustagoodfeeling,feelsmoreaccomplishingwhenyoufinishareading.”Thisgroupalsofeltverystronglyabouttheirdislikefordigitaltextbooks,commenting“theysuck,”“becauseIstinkwithtechnology,”“technologyhatesme,”and“becauseIalwaysworkbetteronpaper.”Manystudentsfeltthatlookingatacomputertoolonggavethemeyestrainoraheadache.Theyoverwhelminglyfeltthattheyweremorescientificallyliteratewhenusingpapertextbooks,and20outof22studentshavealreadybeentaughtandregularlyusereadingstrategiessuchashighlighting,annotatinginthemargin,andtakingnoteswiththeirpaperassignments.

Inthegroupthatpreferreddigitaltextbooks,theyrespondedthat,“thereisnoneedtoflippageafterpageafterpage,”“becausemybackpackcannotfitanymorebooks,”and“I’veneverlikedjusthavingoneresourcetolookthrough,withdigitalIcanlookthroughmanydifferentresourcesandcompare.”Thisgroupdidnotlikepapertextbooksbecause,“theyaretooheavyandgetlost,”“ittakesforevertofindstuff,”and“itisreallyobnoxiousandbiganditmakesmedreadwantingtoreadit.”Notsurprisingly,thisgroupthoughtthattextpresenteddigitallymaximizedtheirscientificliteracy,and16outof21usedthesameon-paperreadingstrategiesasthepreviousgroup.



ArmedwiththeinformationthatIwouldbemakingtheswitchtotheCK-12resourceessentiallyonmyownandknowingmystudentshadusedreadingstrategieswithpaperinthepast,ImadeitmygoaltofigureouthowtobestusetheCK-12digitaltextbookresourcetoenhancemystudent’scomprehensionofBiologycontent,andenhancetheirscientificliteracy.

UnpackingtheResource:Problems.OnSeptember1,2017,IbeganworkingwiththeCK-12resource.Thepreviousyear’stextbookwastheHoltBiologytextbook(JohnsonandRaven,2004)andlessonscanbecomparedtowhatisfoundintheCK-12resource.IfIweretojustusethelinkprovided,Ifind,asInotedinmyjournalofSeptember1,2017,“thelinktakesmetoawebpagethatcontainssomuchreadingthatifIweretoprintitout,itwouldbe16pages!Thereissomuchreading,andsomanyconceptsintroducedatonce,andmoredepththanIcangointoinanon-grade-levelclassthatIthinkitistoomuchformystudentstohandle.”Thisresourcebillsitselfasanon-grade-levelresource,butIfoundthatthedepth,breadth,andlengthofthisreadingwasfarbeyondwhatmystudentscanhandle.Inaddition,thelinkprovidedwouldallowstudentstohighlightandannotateastheyread-butwithoutaCK-12account,theirworkwouldnotbesaved.Andwhatisthepointinthat?

AReviewofPreviousPractice.Inmypastyearsasateacherutilizingpapertextbooks,Iwasabletoensurestudentsweredeeplyreadingtheresourcebyassigningshortsections(approximatelythreepages)toread,andassigningaworksheetofmyowndesignthataskedquestionsaboutwhattheyhadread.ThefeedbackIgotfromstudentsandotherteacherswasthattheworksheetforcedstudentstoslowdownandcarefullyreadthetextbook.Studentswhodidthisworkwerefullypreparedtoparticipateindiscussionthefollowingday.Afterbeingassignedadigitaltextbooktouse,andreviewingtherelevantliteratureaboutthelackofscientificliteracywiththistypeofmedia,Isetabouttoradicallychangemyapproachtoreadinghomework.

UnpackingtheResource:Solutions.Afterabout20hoursofworkingwiththeCK-12resource,Ihadmyfirstunitreadytoassigntotheclass-textreadingonly,inchunks,capableofbeinghighlighted,annotated,andsaved.Iworkedwiththeresourceuntil,tothebestofitsability,itwouldprovidethereaderwithallofthetoolsnecessarytoreaddeeply.Ilimitedthedistractionsasmuchaspossiblebyassigningsmallchunksoftexttoread.FollowingthedirectionsontheCK-12website,Icreatedadigitalclassroomsothatmystudentscouldsavetheirdigitalhighlightingandannotations.Unfortunately,thisnewlookmeantthatittookmystudentssevenclickstogetfromourclasswebsiteouttotheCK-12textreading.Itwassoconfusingmyco-teachermadeachecklistforthestudents.Onthebackofthechecklist,IputthecodedhighlightingkeyIwantedthestudentstouse:yellowforvocabulary,greenforconcepts,andblueforexamples.Onepositiveaspectisthatoncethestudentsfinishtheircodedhighlightingassignment,theprogramcollatesallofthecolorsatthebottom-creatingavocabularylist,aconceptslist,andanexampleslist.ThebadpartisthatastheteacherontheCK-12site,Icanonlyseeacheckmarkwhenstudents“TurnIn”theirreading.Icannotseewhattheyhighlighted.



Iguidedthestudentsthroughtheirfirstreadingassignmentduringclasstime.Studentswereabletologon,followthechecklist,andreadtheselectionwhilehighlightingonlytherelevantinformation.Inmyjournal,Inotedthatstudentswhoinitiallypreferredapapertextbookwereexcitedthattheycouldhighlightbecausepapertextbookswereexpectedtobereturnedintheconditiontheywerehandedoutin,andmarkingoneupwasseenasabonus.

Ifeltconfidentenoughtoaskmystudentstodothisworkinthefutureasahomeworkassignment.Isetupthedigitalreadingsectionsinadvance,andassignedthereadingtothestudents.However,withouttheresourceeasilyaccessible,thepercentageofstudentsdoingtheworkstartedtoplummet(seeFigure3).Thisfigureindicatesthat95%ofstudentsdidtheir“ScienceGoals”readingassignment,butonly64%completedthe“ScientificInvestigation”readingassignment.

Figure3:Percentofreadingassignments“turnedin”fortworeadings:“ScienceGoals”and“ScientificInvestigation”(CK-12Foundation).

AwaytoaddressthislossofliteracycameunexpectedlyinNovember.Iwasoutsickanddesignedasubstitutelessonthatcouldonlybecompletedifthehomeworkreadinghadbeendone.WhenIreturnedtoclass,Iaskedstudentstofilloutanexitpasslettingmeknowiftheyranintoproblemsdoingtheworkbecauseofunpreparedness.Ifoundthatstudentswereveryquicktorecognizetherolethatreadingplayedintheiracademicsuccess,astheywereunabletocontributewhenunprepared,butmoreso,theyfeltthenegativeemotionsfromtheirpeersastheywereunabletopulltheirweightinthegroupactivity.Thirty-ninepercentofstudentsadmittedtonotdoingtheirreading,andtheirresponsesrangedfromtheknee-jerk,“Ididn’tknowweweresupposedtoreadtheonlinetextbook,”tothemoredeepandreflective,“Wedidn’tuseit.Butwe’llstart!”



FinalImpressions.IendedmyresearchtimewiththeonepieceofdataIwasmostconcernedabout-studentsuccess.InlateNovember,Iconductedasurveyofmystudentstoseehowtheyfeltabouttheirreadingskillsandabilitytobesuccessfulinmyclassroom.Atthebeginningoftheschoolyear,Ihadaskedmystudentswhichtypeofmediatheypreferredforreading,andafterthreemonthsofusingtheCK-12resource,Iaskedthesamequestionagain.Figure4showstheresponsestobothquestions.Thisfigureindicatesthatstudentspreferringtoreaddigitallyjumpedfrom35%inAugust2017to69.8%inNovember2017.Of34.8%ofstudentsnotusingdigitaltextbooksinAugust,nowpreferredtheminNovember.

Figure4:ThechangeinstudentpreferencefortextreadingfromAugust2017toNovember2017.Theresponsesindicatethatthenumberofstudentswhopreferredapapertextbooktoadigitaltextbookhaddroppedfrom36.7%inAugustto28.3%inNovember,whiledigitalpreferencenearlydoubledfrom35%inAugusttoastaggering69.8%inNovember.TheChi-SquaretestforstatisticalsignificancewasusedtoevaluatetheresultsandwithaX2valueof32.52withonedegreeoffreedom,Icanconcludethatthedifferencesinthesenumbersrepresentsatruechangeinstudentpreference(p<0.05).However,thequestionwasansweredbasedonstudentpreferencefortextmedia(i.e.,whattheythoughttheylikedbest).IrecalledfromWallis’s(2017)researchthatpsychologicallystudentsequatedreadingfasteronascreenwithreadingbetter,wheninrealitytheywereretaininglessinformationthaniftheyhadreadthesametextinprint.Toexplorewhetherthiswashappeningwithmyclass,Icomparedmycurrentyearstudents’averagetestscoresacrossthethreetests



thattheyhavetakensofarthisyearwiththepreviousyear’sstudentscores.Ofcourse,theunitincorporatedlecturenotes,activities,experiments,projects,anddemonstrationsaswell,butallresourcesusedwerethesameaslastschoolyear-withtheonlychangebeingthetextbook.Thetestusedwasexactlythesame.SeeTables1,2,and3forasummaryoftestscoresacrossthreeperiodsofBiology.Table1showsthattherewasnosignificantdifferenceinthetestscoresofanyperiodovertwoyears(p<0.01).Table2showsthattherewasnosignificantdifferenceinthetestscoresofanyperiodovertwoyears(p<0.01).Table3showsthattherewasnosignificantdifferenceinthetestscoresofanyperiodovertwoyears(p<0.01).Table1:Theaverage“ThemesofBiology”testscoresforeachperiodofBiologyintwoschoolyears(totalpointvalueoftestequals80points).

Period1 Period2 Period7

AverageTestScoreFor2016-2017SchoolYear(PaperTextbook)

67.5 62.2 65.8

AverageTestScoreFor2017-2018SchoolYear(DigitalTextbook)

63.3 67.3 76.1

Χ2value=2.29;df=2;p<0.01

Table2:Theaverage“InorganicChemistry”testscoresforeachperiodofBiologyintwoschoolyears(totalpointvalueoftestequals55points).



43.1 41.4 41.3


39.1 40.8 41

Χ2value=0.38;df=2;p<0.01



Table3:Theaverage“OrganicChemistry”testscoresforeachperiodofBiologyintwoschoolyears(totalpointvalueoftestequals70points).



59.2 59.5 54.4


54.5 59.1 53.2

Χ2value=0.40;df=2;p<0.01

Hereagain,theChi-SquareTestofStatisticalSignificancewasusedtoevaluatetheresults.Oneachtest,andforeachperiodofBiology,Iamconfidentthatthereisessentiallynodifferencebetweenthetestscoresofthesetwogroups.Thestudents’perceptionofdoingwellwithdigitalmediaisaccurate-theyaredoingatleastaswellastheirpeerswhoweretaughtwithaprinttextbook.Therehasbeennolossofliteracyskillsinmyclassroom,despitetheswitchtodigitaltextbooks.

Figure4clearlyshowsthat34.8%ofmystudentswhoinitiallydidnotfeelsuccessfulwithadigitaltextbookbyNovemberwereusingthedigitaltextbookeffortlesslyandfeltsuccessful.Iwantedtoexploresomeofthereasonsthatbroughtaboutthatchange.First,IaskedthegroupthatpreferredtheCK-12resourcewhatitwasthattheylikedaboutCK-12thatmadeitbetterthantheirpreviouspapertextbooks.Twenty-twooutofthethirtyrespondentsinthisgroupchose“highlighting”asthemainimprovementoverpapertextbooks,forexamplewriting,“it’seasytogettothearticle,andthearticleisalltogether.noturningpages,nogettinglost,easyhighlighting,automaticnotes.Itmakesthewholestudyingprocess100Xeasier,andmuchfaster,andlessboringthanatraditionalone.”Theothereightstudentschosedifferentfeaturesasbeingtheirfavorite,whichareprobablymorereflectiveoftheirindividuallearningneeds,withonestudentnoting,“Ilikethatifyoudon'tknowawordanditisusedbutthereisnodefinitionyoucanclickorhoveroverittogetthedefinition,”whilesixmorechosetheembeddedvideosandfull-colorpicturesasbeingtheirfavorites.

Conclusion

IbeganthisworkbecauseIwasaskedtoremovetheoneresourcefrommyclassroomthatallowedchildrentolearnthroughtheprintedword.Papertextbookswerereplacedwithadigitalresourcethatwasheavyondynamiccontentandembeddedquizzes,butthischangeprovedtobeachallengewhentryingtoassignreadinginameaningfulway.Tominimizehomeworktime,Ieliminatedaguidedreadingsheetaswaspastpracticeandsteppedoutsideofmycomfortzonespendingconsiderabletimeresearchingandimplementing



digitalreadingstrategies-strategiesthatwouldencouragemystudentstoreaddeeplyandtoextractmeaning.LimitedtoonlytheCK-12resource,Ilearnedtomanipulatethecontenttoassignsmallreadingpassages,andcoachedmystudentsonthetechniquesofdigitalcodedhighlightingandannotation.Theirresponsesindicatethattheysawthesedigitalreadingstrategiesasabenefitoverpapertextbooks,andtheirtestgradesindicatethattheyareperformingatleastaswellaslastyear’spapertextbookusers.Asasecondaryteacher,IneverthoughtIwouldhavetoteachliteracyinmyclassroom,butthatisjustwhatImustdoinordertoencouragestudentstothinkforthemselvesandtodrawindependentconclusionsfromdatapresentedtotheminordertobecomethebestleadersoftomorrow.

Theimplicationsofthisfour-monthresearchprojectbeginwherethisprojectleavesoff.AsIwentthroughthisproject,itbecameglaringlyobviousthatifstudentsaregoingtobescientificallyliterateinadigitalsociety,secondaryteachersaregoingtoneedtobetrainedtoteachdigitalreadingstrategies(ShanahanandShanahan,2008).Itissoeasytoturntoavideowhenastudenthasdifficultyreading,butthatisexactlythestudentwhoneedsthereadingpractice.Insteadoftakingtheeasyway,secondaryteacherslikemyselfmustcommittolearningnewdigitalreadingstrategies(suchashighlighting,annotation,text-to-speech,etc…),andconsistentlyteachingandmodelingthemforthestudentsuntiltheycanbeassuccessfulthroughtheirdigitalreadingastheyoncewerethroughpaperreading.Whenreading,beliefissuspendedwhileintegrationofknowledgeoccurs.Whenwatchingvideos,beliefisautomatic.We,asteachers,mustencouragestudentstothinkforthemselvesandtodrawindependentconclusionsfromdatapresentedtotheminorderforthemtobecomethebestleadersoftomorrow.Thequestionthatemergesfromthisresearchis,howisitbesttoteachthesestrategiesinadigitalage?

AbouttheAuthor

LisaCatalanoGizasisinherseventhyearteachingBiologyandAdvancedPlacementBiologyatWestMorrisCentralHighSchoolinChester,NewJersey. Inthisrole,sheisafour-timewinneroftheannualBASFScienceEducationGrant. ShegraduatedfromtheUniversityofTexasatAustinwithaBSinMicrobiology,andhasearnedaMSinBiologyfromRutgersUniversityandanMEdinEducationalLeadershipandInstructionfromTheCollegeofNewJersey. Shehaspreviouslyworkedasaresearchtechnologistinthefieldsofcancerresearch,neuroscience,andimmunochemistry. Asanadjunctcollegeprofessor,shetaughtMicrobiologyandHumanBiology. ShewouldliketothankCharlie,Maria,andDamianfortheirsupportofthisactionresearch. Email:[email protected].



References

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