Conclusion
For my research on
transactional strategies instruction, I used the
multiple-baseline-across-behaviors design. The intervention of transactional
strategies instruction (TSI) had four independent variables. The four
independent variables were prediction, questions, visualization, and
summarization. The students’ performances with the TSI guide sheet and the
journal summary were the dependent variables for my research. My data were collected from two sixth grade
students with learning disabilities. I designated these students as Student A
and Student B. From my study I am pleased to state that both of my students
responded positively to TSI.
Student A maintained a consistent
level of improvement with the prediction variable, whereas, student B
maintained a level of consistency for stories #7 – 10. On story #11, Student B
did not predict the characters in the story. Student B’s prediction for story
#12 improved by having the characters, setting, and the plot. I believe this
decline on story #11 was due to an intervening variable because Student B had
missed a scheduled medication for attention deficient disorder.
The independent variable of questioning
seemed to have a greater impact on Student B than Student A. Student B’s data
showed a steady increase for questioning while reading the text. However,
Student A’s use of TSI – questioning strategy decreased with stories #10 and
#11. My hypothesis for the decreased use of the questioning strategy by Student
A would be his ability to connect these stories to his life experiences. Both
of these stories dealt with nature and adventure, and Student A had prior
knowledge of camping, hiking, and fishing.
The visualization strategy of TSI
continued with a favorable trend for both students A and B. Overall, Student A
seemed to perform better than Student B.
The final independent variable of
summarization was introduced during the tenth story. Both students demonstrated
a dramatic increase in the quality of their summaries. Their summaries had
improved by containing most of the desired components that I created as a set
of requirements for their summarizations.
The
multiple-baseline-across-behaviors showed the independent variables of TSI was
responsible for the positive results in reading comprehension for Student A and
Student B.
