Researcher’s Reflections
Analysis Graphics Student Samples
The results of this study demonstrated a need to incorporate reading strategies into social studies classrooms along with literature. While the literature provided a vehicle for the strategies, it was the use of the strategies that became more relevant in helping to increase student comprehension. I was able to share the results of some of the activities not only with the teacher whose class I was working with, but with other teachers in the department as well. The discussion and feedback from the staff, particularly at the high school level was particularly satisfying. Using the graphic organizer as a measure of comprehension limited the results.
The comments on the student questionnaires reflected their beliefs that the activities helped them remember the content being taught. It may have been the novelty of having someone other than their regular teacher, but their perceptions may have given them more confidence when completing the graphic organizers.
The future implications for this study is to continue to work with teachers in the department not only in incorporating literature to the curriculum, but sharing strategies to use when students are reading textbooks. I believe by teaching students strategies for reading textbooks it will result in higher comprehension levels. I feel that by incorporating literature into the social studies curriculum it will serve as the hook to raise student interest, draw on prior knowledge and can be used as a vehicle for teaching strategies to increase comprehension.
In reflection on the design of this research project, I would make several changes. First, I would expand it to involve more than one team of students. Secondly, I would expand the length of the project by increasing the number of literature lessons presented. I also feel that by expanding the research to other grade levels, it would make the findings more credible.
I did not start out to measure the aesthetic connection students would make toward the literature and its' impact on comprehension. However, the comments students wrote on their questionnaires referred to the personal connections that they made and how it helped them to remember the information. This made the results more positive. It demonstrated that if this study is repeated, there should be a different measure of comprehension which would be more closely tied to the main question under study.
I was pleased students made personal connections to the literature. However, even though I did not set out to measure aesthetic connections, I was able to demonstrate what I had originally set out to proved, which was that literature incorporated into social studies classes would increase student comprehension.