- Analysis of data
The action research study addresses the following research questions: what is the effect of critical viewing on the acquisition of literacy skills? Does critical viewing assist in better retention and application of literal terminology as compared to the traditional mode of learning? The data collected in the survey that was conducted in the fall and spring of 2003 answers the first research question. During this survey, 64 twelfth grade students were asked to identify the medium that assisted them to recall the facts more easily. The students were drawn from the traditional English course and the critical viewing course. The data that was obtained from the survey provided sufficient information for answering the first research question given that it enabled the researcher to gather first hand experiences of the students in their interaction with the two modes of learning.
The second question was answered by the results obtained from the assessments which were carried out by the researcher in order to determine whether the critical viewing course had played a central role in assisting the students to learn about literary aspects such as character, plot and genre. During the assessments, a group of students were required to read the story “A Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe after which they were required to write out the details that they could recall. The same group of students watched a movie by the same title after which they were required to write the details they could remember from the movie. The evidence that was provided from the assessment adequately responded to the second question given that it provided a basis for the two modes of learning to be compared and conclusion to be drawn on the basis of the results.
In order to analyze the results of the first survey conducted during the action research study, the researcher classified the participants into two categories: readers made up 54.7% while non readers made up 45.3% . this part of the analysis was critical in determining preferences and the learning styles of the study participants hence gauge whether it was an influence in learning outcomes or not. All the students who participated in the study were found to be viewers. Upon analyzing the data from the survey, it was found that 57% of the readers and 79% of the readers stated that they found it easier to recall facts from visual content. 77% of the readers and 84% of the non readers stated that it was easier for them to understand videos than it is to understand books. Based on this analysis, the second research question which was a comparison of the two mediums was well answered.
The analysis of the data obtained from the second survey was critical to answering the first research question. 91 % of the respondents in the survey stated that the critical viewing course had assisted them in writing about the fundamental elements of literature. The same batch of students also stated that the critical viewing course had been beneficial in aiding them to understand the basic elements of literature. The analysis further revealed that 95% the students felt that visual content ought to be incorporated as part of the content during lessons. Some of the aspects of literature that students felt they understood better as a result of the critical viewing course were genre, theme, characterization and plot.
- Gaps in the findings
There were gaps in the findings that were obtained from this study. To begin with, given that this was an action research study that was conducted by a classroom teacher, not all question regarding the research design were covered well. The design of the research was subjective given that it was designed to inform the researcher’s instruction of his students through the provision of background knowledge of the students and to determine their views on the critical viewing course. However, this information does not entirely form the basis for stating that critical viewing can enhance the student’s ability to obtain and subsequently apply literacy skills.
The inclusion of two assessments as part of the research design fails to adhere to the principles of a true quasi experiment. The action research study is an offshoot of the researcher’s own practice and the observations that were made during actual classes hence they could be subject to biases from the researchers. In addition to that, there was no control group during the action research. This had a negative impact given that there are students who were enrolled in both the critical viewing class and the traditional English class concurrently. As a result, it is not clear from the assessments that were done whether these students had witnessed an improvement as a result of being in the critical viewing class complemented by the traditional English class or if critical viewing had been of help all on its own.
Another gap in the findings was that there were no pretests that were carried out by the researcher. As a result, there was time at which the researcher subjected to critical viewing followed by a reading course and also a reading course followed by a critical viewing session. In doing this, it would be possible for the researcher to determine whether critical viewing coupled with reading accounts for greater ability to recall literary aspects. It would also be possible to determine whether critical viewing is responsible for the increased scores that were observed.
Finally given that the researcher used his own class as study subjects based on his own observations from practice, application of the data that was obtained from the study to the general population would be limited. This is because other learning contexts were not taken into account during this study hence it would not be practical to generalize the findings. The analysis does not take into account the statistical significance of the results hence this limit the application of the results to other classrooms and other students as well.
- Evaluation of the action research study and the outcomes
This action research study was successful because of the following reasons:
The researcher set out to answer two questions which were: What is the effect of critical viewing on the acquisition of literacy skills? Does critical viewing assist in better retention and application of literal terminology as compared to the traditional mode of learning? In order to answer these questions, the researcher conducted two surveys in the spring and the fall of 2003. The first survey entailed determining the reading and viewing habits of 64 twelfth grade students. The second survey entailed asking 23 students whether the critical viewing course had helped them gain better understanding into fundamentals of literature such as genre, plot and character. The analysis of this data provided answers for the first research question hence making this aspect of the research contribute to the success of the research.
The researcher also carried out assessments in order to compare the efficacy of critical viewing course in assisting the students to recall literary aspects such as genre and plot with that of the reading course. The first assessment was carried out in the spring of 2003 which involved assessing 24 students. The second assessment which had 19 participants was carried out in the fall of 2003. The results that were obtained from these assessments provided an answer to the first and second research questions hence the researcher attained his goals. In addition to this, given that the researcher used his own class as study subjects, the results that were obtained from the action research study can be used to improve the critical viewing course in order to enhance its efficacy in addition to including in more lessons as per the views of the students who were surveyed during the action research study. This points to a successful research since the results that were obtained can be of use in everyday teaching practice of critical viewing.
In spite of the success of the research, there are other ways that would have enhanced the success of the results. For instance, during the assessments that were carried out by the researcher, a control group should have been included. Some of the participants in the assessments were enrolled in both the critical viewing course and the tradition course hence there was no clear indicator as to whether critical viewing enhanced the results of the traditional reading course or vice versa. A control group that was made up of students who were enrolled in the critical viewing course only and those who were enrolled in the traditional reading course only would have been beneficial in drawing the demarcation.
In addition to this, the results of the comparison would have provided deeper insight by altering the research design as follows: one group of the action research study participants should have been subjected to a critical viewing session followed by a reading session before an assessment was done. Another group would have been subjected to a reading session followed by a critical viewing session after which an assessment would have been done. The results would have been obtained from the two groups and then analyzed in order to draw out the comparison. Another twist to the research design would have been as follows: the researcher could have subjected a group of study participants to a critical viewing session followed by an assessment after which they would have reread the story. He would have subjected the same group a reading session, carried out an assessment after which the same group of students would have reread the story. In addition to this, the study could have been carried out in different critical viewing classes within the school in order to determine whether context has an effect on the results. The researcher could have broadened the study population by carrying out the study at more schools across his district and involve more experts in the process in order to further validate the results of the study.
- Future research
Further research needs to be carried out in order to determine whether critical viewing assists students to recall fundamentals of literature such as plot, genre and character. To begin with, there needs to be further research on the impact of critical viewing followed by a session of reading in order to determine whether critical viewing provides a preview of what needs to be learned and assists the students to recall this content later on. The research also needs to geared towards determining whether critical viewing alone can be used as a substitute for traditional reading courses and gauge its efficacy.
In addition to this, researcher ought to determine the effect of critical viewing on students of varying learning abilities. This would be critical for tailoring the content used for instruction of critical viewing in order to suit the learning needs of the students. The effect of critical viewing on the learning outcomes in students in different grades of school also needs to be studied in the future. In doing so, it would be possible for the instructors to determine the most appropriate time to introduce the students to critical viewing.
Future research can used in planning for future research given that it gives a preview of a setting that would be appropriate for conducting research on critical viewing and tradition reading courses. In addition to this, the results also point to the superiority of critical viewing in enhancing learning outcomes which could future researchers could agrees with or dispute after carrying out other studies. The limitations of this study could help future research carry out studies that have better research design having taken into account what the researcher in this case may have missed out on.
In the future, the participants can take a more participative role in the critical viewing courses. They can also suggest ways of improving the critical viewing courses based on their experiences in order to enrich the learning experience.
References
Teresa, R., & David, W. N. (2005). The connection between media viewing and literacy skills. Curriculum and teaching dialogue , 139.
