In this
form of single-subject research, two or more distinct treatment are introduced,
usually following a brief baseline phase. The
treatments are then alternated randomly and continued until one treatment proves
to be more effective than the others, or until it is clear than no method is
superior to another. During the
entire experiment, the learner's performance for each treatment is plotted on
a graph, and the effects of the treatments can be discerned easily by visual
analysis. Through visual
inspection of graphs displaying levels of student response, the data paths are
used to examine the degree of experimental control.
This refers to objective, believable evidence that the introduction of
the treatment is accompanied by a change in the trend and level of the target
behavior. When the paths of two or more treatments show no overlap with
one another and the trend of each path is replicated with each introduction of
the same treatment, then a clear demonstration of experimental control is
indicated.
The data of the students' performance on the written book reviews are
presented in Student One, Student
Two, and Student Three graphs.
The percentages of the reading-writing connections were determined by
evaluating the connections found in the students' book reviews using the book
review checklist. The data shows
the percentage of reading-writing connections following the students reading
children's literature books and writing book reviews. In the Baseline condition, the students read children's
literature books without discussion and wrote book reviews that included a
summary and evaluation. During the
first treatment phase or Intervention 1 condition, the students read
children's literature books while the teacher was using a Guided Reading
approach to discuss the nuances of the story.
Then students were asked to write book reviews that included a summary
and evaluation. During the second
treatment phase or Intervention 2 condition, the students read and examined a
variety of professional book reviews. Then
students generated a checklist of the components of a book review.
The students were asked to read other children's literature books and
to write book reviews using the book review checklist.
The analysis of the data
in all three students' graphs revealed that the data points for the Baseline
condition represented a similar level of reading-writing connections as data points during the
Intervention 1 condition. The data points for the Baseline condition indicated
percentages of the reading-writing connections ranging from 44% to 56% compared
to the similar percentages of the reading-writing connections in the
Intervention 1 condition ranging from 50 % to 62 %. The minimal overlapping of
data points exhibited in the Baseline condition and Intervention 1 condition
indicated a little degree of difference between the reading-writing connections
presented in the students' book reviews. The overlap of data points between
the Baseline condition and the Intervention 1 condition students' book reviews
were consistent. The analysis of
the data points of the Intervention 1 condition did not reflect a change in the
students' written book reviews compared to the Baseline condition.
Thus, the process of the Guided Reading approach influencing the
reading-writing connections in the students' book reviews in Intervention 1 did
not increase the reading-writing connections found in the students' book reviews
compared to the results of the
Baseline condition students' book reviews.
When comparing the three
students' graphs, the path of data points in the Intervention 2 condition did
not show points falling within the range of data points displayed by the
Baseline condition or the Intervention 1 condition. The data points for the Intervention 2 condition
indicated percentages of the reading-writing connections ranging from 88% to
100%. The data points in
Intervention 2 were consistently and dependently displayed as a higher percentage
compared to the Baseline condition and the Intervention 1 condition. The analysis of the data points for Intervention 2
condition revealed the reading of professional book reviews had a positive
effect on the percentage of reading-writing connections in the students'
written book reviews.
Thus, the two
Interventions were introduced to promote the reading-writing connection in the
students' written book reviews. In
all three students' graphs, the data points for the Baseline condition and
Intervention 1 condition overlapped demonstrating little difference between
them. Following a low percentage of
reading-writing connections produced in the students' book reviews during the
Baseline condition and Intervention 1 condition, the students' percentage of
reading-writing connections increased in the Intervention 2 condition after
reading professional book reviews.
In conclusion, the
percentage of reading-writing connections presented in the students' book
reviews across each condition verifies that Intervention 2 condition was
superior to the others. The results
indicated that reading professional book reviews increased the reading-writing
connections found in the students' book reviews.