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Edited by Dr. Lynne Schrum, George Mason University
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| formerly Journal of Research on Computing in Education |
Volume 40 Number 2 Winter 2007-2008
Supporting Social Studies Reading Comprehension with an Electronic Pop-up Dictionary
Sara Winstead Fry
Bucknell University
Ross Gosky
Appalachian State University
Abstract
This study investigated how middle school students’ comprehension was impacted by reading social studies texts online with a pop-up dictionary function for every word in the text. A quantitative counterbalance design was used to determine how 129 middle school students’ reading comprehension test scores for the pop-up dictionary reading differed from test scores for reading hard-copy texts or an online text without the dictionary. The pop-up dictionary reading was shown to be a statistically effective method for improving student test scores. The results suggest pop-up dictionaries may provide a helpful ntervention for increasing middle-level learners’ reading comprehension.
 Download the full article (PDF, 113 KB)
Contributors
Sara Winstead Fry is an assistant professor of education at Bucknell University. Her research interests include beginning teacher induction, social studies education, and enhancing preservice teacher and K–12 student learning through educational technology. (sfry@bucknell.edu.).
Ross Gosky is an assistant professor in the Mathematical Sciences Department at Appalachian State University. His research area is statistics. (goskyrm@appstate.edu.)
Copyright 2007-2008, (International Society for Technology in Education). All rights reserved.
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