| The Effectiveness of Written Vs. Oral Stimuli on the Recall of Seventh Grade Males Vs. Females | |
Researched by Jessica
M.
|
|
PURPOSE
The first purpose of this experiment was to compare the effectiveness of written versus oral stimuli on the recall of seventh grade students.
The second purpose of this experiment was to compare the recall of seventh grade males and females.
I became interested in this idea when I did a science project on hand-eye coordination as a sixth grader. I found this study interesting and decided to do another on human behavior. Also, in the future, I am considering becoming a professional educator and found this a great opportunity to learn more about the learning and memory of students.
The information gained from this experiment would be useful to educators, students, and learning specialists.
My first hypothesis was that both written and oral stimuli would have an equal effect on the test scores.
I base my first hypothesis on The Way They Learn written by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias. The book states, “Some people learn by listening to verbal instructions, and some learn by seeing and watching.” People learn in many different ways. There is not one dominant learning style.
My second hypothesis was that females would score higher on the test than males when they read it themselves.
My third hypothesis was that females would score higher on the test than males when they listen to it read aloud.
I based my second and third hypotheses on the average seventh grade reading and listening WASL test scores for my school from 2000 - 2003. On average, 51% of the girls passed the reading WASL while 36% of the boys did. Listening scores were much closer but girls still did a little better, 87% vs. 84% for boys. This information is available on the OSPI website at http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/Reports/WASLTrend.aspx?schoolId=3203&reportLevel=School.
The constants in this study were:
* The number of students in each group
(10)
* Amount of time given (10 minutes)
* Amount of time between tests (1 hour)
* Place test is being held
* Difficulty of the test
* Experimenter’s script
* The testing environment
* Seventh grade students
* Number of males in each test
* Number of females in each test
The first manipulated variable was written vs. oral stimuli. The second manipulated variable was gender.
The responding variable was the number of correct answers on each test.
To measure the responding variable I counted the number of correct answers using an answer key.
| QUANTITY | ITEM DESCRIPTION |
|
20 |
copies of story 1 |
|
20 |
copies of story 2 |
| 40 | copies of test 1 |
| 40 | copies of test 2 |
| 20 | seventh grade male students |
| 20 | seventh grade female students |
| 1 | empty classroom |
| chairs | |
| tables | |
| pencils | |
| 1 | answer key |
| 1 | experimenter’s script |
| 1 | data table |
I. Distribute and collect parent permission
slips to 3 seventh grade classes to obtain subjects.
II. Copy materials for each subject
III. Randomly assign students to one of
the four test groups with each group having an approximately equal number
of subjects.
IV. Use this treatment chart for all procedures
below:
Treatment Chart for Each Group
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4
Day 1 Test A Oral Test B Oral Test
A Written Test B Written
Day 2 Test B Written Test A
Written Test B Oral Test A Oral
V. DAY ONE
1. Show current group to the testing area
2. Seat students one desk apart in a normal
classroom.
3. Read instructions and answer all questions.
(See experimenter’s script in appendix.)
4. Present story:
A. If subjects are in the “Oral” group,
read aloud a 7th grade level story to the students.
B. If subjects are in the “Written” group,
hand out copies of 7th grade level story. Have them read it silently to
themselves. Collect the stories when student are done reading.
5. Immediately after, distribute a multiple
choice test and a pencil to each of the subjects.
6. Have students write their gender on
the test form! When the students are finished collect the tests and pencils.
7. Thank the students and have them return
to their classrooms.
8. Using the answer key, correct the tests.
9. Record data.
10. Repeat steps 1-9 with all other test
groups for day one, following the treatment chart.
VI. DAY TWO
1. Repeat all DAY ONE steps, except use
the correct treatments and tests for day two found in the “Treatment Chart”
above.
The original purpose of this experiment was to compare the effectiveness of written vs. oral stimuli on the recall of seventh grade students and to compare the recall of seventh grade males and females.
The results of the experiment were that written stimuli was the most effective for recall by seventh grade students. The overall average test score for written stimuli was 84% while oral stimuli test scores only averaged at 77%.
Males did better than females on both tests. On the written test, males had an average score of 86% compared to females who only had a score of 83%. On the oral test, males averaged 79% while females averaged 72%.
See the table and graphs below.
My first hypothesis was that both written and oral stimuli would have an equal effect on the test scores. The results indicate that my first hypothesis should be rejected.
My second hypothesis was that females would score higher on the test than males when they read it themselves. The results indicate that my second hypothesis should be rejected.
My third hypothesis was that females would score higher on the test than males when they listen to it read aloud. The results indicate that my third hypothesis should be rejected.
Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder what would happen if I compared the test scores of seventh vs. third graders for oral and written stimuli.
If I were to conduct this project again I would have an equal number of males and females and would obtain a greater number of subjects for accuracy. Also, I would tape record the oral stories to play back during the testing instead of reading it aloud.
During the testing, there was a significant procedural error made on the first day of testing. Some students did not identify their gender on their test form. This did not harm the written vs. oral analysis, but it made the data pool for males vs. females. I would definitely avoid this type of mistake in any future testing.
I would like to thank the following people
for helping make my project possible:
* My family for supporting me throughout
the whole project.
* My friends for encouraging me.
* Mr. Newkirk and Mrs. Helms for an endless
amount of hard work in helping me succeed.
* My subjects for participating in my experiment
and making this whole project possible.
* The teachers who allowed me to take students
out of their classes to participate in my experiment.
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