on students of Melbourne University
Reading is one of the first skills taught and applied during the first years of education in schools across the globe. Duggan (2009) expressed adept readers showed to have fast reading times as the most reliable indicator for their skills, while text comprehension was also an indicator, but a more difficult one to assess. In opposition, the experience of reading can be either improved or weakened by exterior elements different than the reader himself. Irlen’s trials (as stated by Morrison, 2011), claimed that reading black words on pale backgrounds, such as white, caused distortion in the visual perception of texts. Morrison (2011) agrees with this idea, and then explains that background’s brightness negatively affects how readers can distinguish black letters.
The population for this particular study focuses on undergraduate students of Melbourne University that could see themselves benefitted from using lilac-colored filters on their materials. The sample consists of 35 randomly selected students, with varying ages, majors and socioeconomic status.
RESEARCH QUESTION
1. What are the discrepancies in time and perception students present when reading a piece of text in lilac-colored paper as opposed to a different, but comparable text on white paper among undergraduate Melbourne University students?
Receiving a positive answer on this matter (results showing that students are able to read lilac-colored paper faster than traditional white paper) would allow Melbourne University to capitalize on schemes to increase the quality of their students’ reading comprehension practices. If not, having a negative result would stop the institution from making an unprofitable investment.
HYPOTHESIS STATEMENT
Black and Champion (as cited by Kumar, 2014) explain that a hypothesis foresees the relationship between two variables and offers a statement for this singularity. The author continues this idea by characterizing a hypothesis and stresses that it must be a tentative proposition. This study presents a null hypothesis and an alternative hypothesis:
Null Hypothesis
Melbourne undergraduate students spend equals amount of time when they read apiece of text in a White Paper text than in a Lilac-Colored Paper text.
H0: Variance concerning Whiter Paper Reading Time and Lilac Blue-Colored Text Reading Time is 0.
Alternative Hypothesis
Melbourne undergraduate students spend a considerable time fraction when reading a piece of text in Lilac Colored, as opposed to the time spent with the White Paper passage.
H1: Variance concerning Reading Times of Lilac-Colored Text against White Paper Text is larger than 0.
OBJECTIVE
SAMPLING METHODOLOGY
Two variables were identified before conducting the trial: Paper Color and Reading Time. Being a nominal variable, “White Paper” and “Lilac-Colored Paper” are two separate categories without any ordering of Paper Color, while Reading Time is a variable, with ratio properties as it’s taken in seconds. Sampling methodology consisted on indiscriminately selecting 35 undergraduate students, during the first half of the Spring semester in 2015. Students involved had diverse majors, socioeconomic status and capacities, as well as varying ages. There was a selection of different, similar passages. The length and difficulty of these passages was controlled. Students were asked to come to a classroom in which the illumination and temperature were controlled to standard values to ensure comfort. Then, the students were asked to come to read a random passage (either with or without a filter). Measurements would be taken, and then a survey involving their opinion on how much they enjoyed the reading was taken (by its condition, rather than by the contents of it). Finally, they were asked to come the next day to read the passage they hadn’t read already (if they had read a passage without a filter on day one, they would be tested with a lilac-colored filter on day 2). The same tests would be taken afterwards (time and survey).
JUSTIFICATION
Reading deficit is caused, as stated by Ritchie (2010) by a cognitive phonological deficit. But in his study, he states that other theories have led to think that visual disorders are also the culprit. Colors overlays were highly popularized by Irlen’s book on her experience as an educational psychologist that drew conclusions that visual disorders could be treated with colored filters that then were commercialized by the Irlen Institute, Helveston expressed (as stated by Ritchie).
However, Ritchie (2014) also expressed that most randomized controlled studies have only considered participants who already had an experience with color filters, leaving a void in the research for the general population. This study looks forward to shed some light over the students of Melbourne University, regardless of previous experiences with colored filters and their background (age, majors, social or economic status).
SURVEYS
Day 1 Survey
Please, check the answer that applies the most to you.
How often do you experience visual fatigue while reading under normal conditions?
1. Never
2. Sometimes
3. Always
The reading was taken on:
Whiter Paper
Lilac-Colored Filter
1
2
3
4
5
Day 2 Survey
Please, check the answer that applies to you.
The reading was taken on:
Whiter Paper
Lilac-Colored Filter
1
2
3
4
5
TIMELINE
The length of the study is set to three (3) weeks, dividing its development into several successive stages: Data Collection and Analysis, Examination of Descriptive Information, Examination of Inferential Information, Results Discussion and Conclusions.
References
Duggan, Mauna Sue. (2009) A Critical Examination of the Effects of Colored Paper on the Academic Achievement of Fourth Graders in Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary (Unpublished Dissertation). Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama.
Kumar, Ranjit. (2014) Research Methodology, fourth edition. Sage.
Morrison, Rhonda F. (2011) The Effect of Color Overlays on Reading Efficiency (Doctoral Dissertation). Retrieved from http://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1432&context=open_access_dissertations.
Ritchie, Simon. (2010) Reading Disability, Visual Stress, and Colored Filters: A Randomized Controlled Trial. (Master of Science Dissertation). University of Edinburgh.
