List-Group-Label
73.68
10.52
5.26
5.26
5.26
Students' perceptions regarding the vocabulary strategies appeared to be positive overall. Concept
circles, as well as closed word sorts, were perceived to be one of the favorite strategies. Concept circles
appear to be popular because no students circled a frown of any kind on the survey for this particular
strategy. Closed word sorts seem to be favored since this strategy received the most smiles out of any
other strategy. Students also seemed to have positive feelings towards the list-group-label strategy since
this strategy had the most LS faces circled.
Qualitative Analysis. Teacher log entries were used to compare instruction with strategies
embedded in the lesson to teaching without the use of strategies by recording the events during each
lesson. Differences that emerged between teaching with strategies and teaching without strategies
included the amount of time spent teaching the lesson and the amount of time planning for lessons.
Strategies such as concept maps and word sorts were time consuming and required foresight when
preparing a lesson. Information had to be put into categories, facts and terms were classified, and often
visual aids needed to be manufactured. Based on the journal notes, descriptions of lessons were more
detailed and lengthy as vocabulary strategies added more need for preparation.
Frequently when using the vocabulary strategies, all of the science period was used and sometimes
more time was needed. When the strategies were not used, lessons were typically only 30 minutes with no
need for more time. When lessons were taught without strategies time was allotted for reading from the
textbook, discussing review questions, and observing illustrations and captions. When teaching with
strategies, additional time was needed to organize groups to work on word sorts, discuss concept circles
and concept maps, and evaluate strategies with exit cards.
One reason why students may have done so well on the energy chapter without the use of
strategies was the possibility that students independently carried over the use of strategies without the
suggestion of the teacher. Students had been taught how to use the strategies already and had used the
strategies for a similar chapter. Additionally, the data may have been skewed because students may have
had prior knowledge about energy, which influenced the outcomes.
Conclusions
In summary, the results of my study indicate that vocabulary concept strategies did aid
comprehension in the science content area in my classroom. Teaching vocabulary with concepts and the
use of prior knowledge not only improved test scores but was perceived positively by over 50% of my class
in every lesson that utilized vocabulary concept strategies. The results of this study have the potential to
impact teaching instruction and help to personalize instruction for individual students.
References
Anderson, R. C., & Kulhavy, R. W. (1972). Learning concepts from definitions. American Educational
Research Journal, 9(3), 385-390.
Bauman, J. F., Ware, D., & Edwards, E. C. (2007). "Bumping into spicy, tasty words that catch your tongue":
A formative experiment on vocabulary instruction. The Reading Teacher, 61(2), 108-122.
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