2+Problem+Statement+and+Research+Methodology

=Problem Statement and Research Methodology=

Problem Statement:
As I am beginning to step deeper into the reading comprehension research, I am starting to see the patterns and hear the common phrases. I feel like I understand what the comprehension components are, how they are connected, and what is not taking place in classrooms today. And for the last couple of years, I have started to feel that what students do in schools are somewhat disconnected from their lives away from school. I do not feel this should be the case; I feel like what is taking place in the classrooms should transfer over and apply to student’s lives away from school. We are a very technologically advanced society and schools should be preparing students for this advanced work field. Students need to be able to read fluently and comprehend text that are and will be put in front of them. We, as educators, need to look for ways to incorporate the technology or use the technology to help teach and aid with reading comprehension. I have found that there are computer based programs that help with this (though not all are an accurate means of assessing and teaching) and that blogging can help with “new literacies”. I have found that each step in blogging “integrates both traditional reading comprehension skills and the new, higher order thinking skills that are often required during online reading comprehension”. (Zawilinski, 2009). Blogging is just one tool or step in the right direction; but I know there has to be more. I want to know programs, strategies, and techniques that are technologically-based and that will help prepare my students for their brightly colored, fast paced futures. I want students to be fluent as well as capable of understanding numerous texts that will be presented to them. So my question is, what program will aid in reading comprehension and help my students in a way that is relevant, applicable, and transferable to their lives now and tomorrow?

Proposed Research Question:
What affect does technology have on students reading comprehension?

=Research Methodology=

Research Design and Types of Data:
Comprehension is an issue that many students still struggle with; educators work with this skill daily to help students become more competent, capable readers. I am particularly interested in investigating technologies that might help to improve student’s reading comprehension skills and aid educators in the classroom. My research method approach, by nature, is both qualitative and quantitative—thus making it mixed research. The data will show both numerical data as well as non-numerical data such as words and pictures (Johnson, B., Christensen, L., 2008). Johnson and Christensen also state that both qualitative and quantitative research methods help “improve the quality of research” and fewer mistakes will be made. I will be using the qualitative data to see if the CAI (Computer Assisted Instruction) was effective. I will use the quantitative data to support the results of my research. My research participants will be two second grade classrooms with twenty students in each—one being the control group and the other being the experimental group. I will use teacher observations, open-ended surveys, and informal conversational interviews to gather my qualitative data. To collect my quantitative data, I will use the results from the computer program. I will be giving a pre and post test to help accurately assess my findings. I will test students to see where they stand before using the program, and then I will give them a post-test after a certain period to see if the CAI has increased reading comprehension skills. This will allow for adequate data gathering time. I will examine the comprehension results from the beginning time period to the end time period to in order to examine and analyze my results.

Zawilinski, L. (2009). HOT blogging: A framework for blogging to promote higher order thinking. The Reading Teacher, 62, 650-661.
 * References **

Johnson, B. & Christensen, L. (2008) Education research: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed approaches (3rd. ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.