According to recent assessment data, there is an urgent need to improve students' knowledge of science. It has been suggested that the infusion of reading activities including concept mapping, questioning and interactive read-alouds can help students in learning science concepts. Little or no research has combined these methods to examine its effect on learning. The purpose of this study was to examine and compare concept mapping and questioning on students' organization and retention of science knowledge when used with interactive informational read-alouds of science trade books. This study included 58 third grade students from four homogenous classes who were assigned to either a concept mapping group (experimental group) or a questioning with writing group (comparison group). With the same teacher, the school science specialist, the students completed an eight day unit regarding "soil formation" comprised of read-alouds, discussions and reading comprehension activities. (There were no hands-on, laboratory experiments.) Students were assessed on different types of knowledge. Data were analyzed using a mixed model ANOVA design to determine both within-factors (repeated measure), to show growth, and between-factors, to determine the difference between the two groups. The concept mapping group (experimental group) performed significantly higher than the questioning with writing group (comparison) on (a) relational vocabulary assessment (measuring relational knowledge); (b) multiple-choice assessment (measuring students' ability to identify key ideas); and (c) writing assessment (measuring students' relational thinking, students' ability to retain and recall key information and students' ability to use domain knowledge). The concept mapping group maintained these gains in a delayed assessment. The groups did not differ on individual word knowledge as measured by a matching assessment. Recommendations are provided for teachers and researchers including using concept mapping in teaching science concepts to elementary students in conjunction with science text reading, as well as incorporating technology with computer-generated concept maps using Inspiration software.

Thesis (M.S. in Education)--Shenandoah University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

Writing is an academic skill critical to students in today’s schools as it serves as a predominant means for demonstrating knowledge during school years (Graham, 2008). However, for many students with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD), learning to write is a challenging, complex process (Lane, Graham, Harris, & Weisenbach, 2006). Students SLD have substantial writing challenges related to the nature of their disability (Mayes & Calhoun, 2005). This study investigated the effects of computer graphic organizer software on the narrative writing compositions of four, fourth- and fifth-grade, elementary-level boys with SLD. A multiple baseline design across subjects was used to explore the effects of the computer graphic organizer software on four dependent variables: total number of words, total planning time, number of common story elements, and overall organization. Prior to baseline, participants were taught the fundamentals of narrative writing. Throughout baseline and intervention, participants were read a narrative writing prompt and were allowed up to 10 minutes to plan their writing, followed by 15 minutes for writing, and 5 minutes of editing. During baseline, all planning was done using paper and pencil. During intervention, planning was done on the computer using a graphic organizer developed from the software program Kidspiration 3.0 (2011). All compositions were written and editing was done using paper and pencil during baseline and intervention. The results of this study indicated that to varying degrees computer graphic organizers had a positive effect on the narrative writing abilities of elementary aged students with SLD. Participants wrote more words (from 54.74 to 96.60 more), planned for longer periods of time (from 4.50 to 9.50 more minutes), and included more story elements in their compositions (from 2.00 to 5.10 more out of a possible 6). There were nominal to no improvements in overall organization across the 4 participants. The results suggest that teachers of students with SLD should considering use computer graphic organizers in their narrative writing instruction, perhaps in conjunction with remedial writing strategies. Future investigations can include other types of writing genres, other stages of writing, participants with varied demographics and their use combined with remedial writing instruction.

This quasi-experimental study investigated the effects of the Thinking Maps® program, a series of graphic organizers, on the achievement of fourth-grade students as measured by a standardized test. The researcher used a nonequivalent pretest-post test control group design to compare student achievement between fourth-grade students in two elementary schools within a school division. A total of 78 students participated in the study; 41 in two classes in the treatment group and 37 in the two classes in the control group. The treatment group received instruction in the Thinking Maps® program for seven months.The instrument used to measure the dependent variables (reading, mathematics, and language) was the Stanford Achievement Test (Ninth Edition). Three four-way ANOVAs, with treatment and control, race, gender, and previous achievement level as independent variables were used to compare the students' scaled scores on the post test. Interviews were conducted with the four teachers to collect data on the treatment and control conditions.The statistical analyses performed on the post test-scaled scores of the fourth-grade students in the study indicated that there was no significant difference between the treatment and control on any of the variables included in this study. While the quantitative analyses could not validate the owner's of Thinking Maps® program claims of improving student achievement as measured by standardized tests, the researcher provides some insight into teachers' and students' reactions to using these graphic organizers as tools for improving classroom instruction. / Ed. D.

Within the current national atmosphere of accountability and high-stakes testing, many teachers are changing their instruction to return to more traditional strategies that emphasize rote memorization. As a result, classroom curriculum and student learning are narrowing. This study sought to explore the potential of graphic organizers as an instructional strategy to expand student content knowledge beyond rote memorization to include more organized, complex, meaningful learning. For the purpose of this study, graphic organizers are described as visual displays of concepts, their component parts, and the relationships among their parts. This study was conducted over a six week period in a third grade classroom in a rural elementary school in Virginia. Ten focus students were identified for in-depth data collection on their learning process as recorded during science instruction. Although existing research strongly supports graphic organizer effectiveness as an instructional strategy toward general student achievement, little is known about the type of learning they support or the process by which students' knowledge develops. Thus, this research utilized qualitative methodological strategies in order to investigate this process. Data collection methods included field notes, student artifacts, and participant interviews. Constant comparative methodology was employed to analyze data. The theoretical framework of constructivism, espousing that newly acquired information is connected to prior knowledge forming complex, organized networks of conceptual understanding, guided this qualitative study. Findings resulted in emergent themes including student motivation, simplicity, efficiency, visual hierarchical organization, reconstructing knowledge, and cooperative socialization. Documentation of the learning process as opposed to a comparison of pre/post measurements clearly indicated that student thinking gradually became more complex and organized in nature. As students worked with graphic organizers, and participated in study activities, their knowledge moved from a form of listing facts to resemble more complex, interconnected networks. Implications of this study for practice include appropriate instruction and practice for students with graphic organizers as a strategy and a tool, value as an assessment tool, and potential for use with complex classroom populations. Suggestions for future research are given for teacher training on how to use graphic organizers effectively, interdisciplinary use of graphic organizers within one context, potential benefit for struggling and diverse learners, a continuing focus on process as opposed to product, and an examination of the connection between graphic organizer activities and sorting. / Ph. D.

Many students on the autism spectrum display a strong ability to process and comprehend information at elevated levels when presented with it visually. Despite this, students who have autism are increasingly being educated in general education content classrooms that utilize lessons directed to whole groups of students and limit the use of visually presented material. For some students with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), this presentation introduces difficulties related to attention as well as comprehension and retention of material. Research indicates promising results associated with using a graphic organizer to increase comprehension accuracy in students who answer wh-questions following the reading of a short passage. The purpose of this study was to document the relationship between using a graphic organizer and increasing reading comprehension. The study employed a single-subject multiple baseline design across participants to evaluate if the use of a graphic organizer impacted the correctness of answering wh-questions for grade-level social studies content. Participants included four eighth grade students in an urban public school who had been diagnosed with ASD. Results supported research by showing an increase in comprehension skills with the use of a graphic organizer.

This single-case study compared the effects of a typical practice baseline phase to those of a treatment phase. Seven students with learning disabilities (LD) in Grades 4 and 5 participated in the two-school-site study. Each student had basic word-reading proficiency and a distinct deficit in comprehension. Baseline lessons consisted of text reading with corrective feedback, a text-based summary with corrective feedback, and a daily quiz. In treatment, students read text with corrective feedback, used a graphic organizer to study and teach the content to the instructor, and completed a daily quiz. The baseline and treatment lessons were influenced by direct, systematic, and explicit instruction. Analysis indicates that an experimental effect was present for all students when the daily quiz results for baseline and treatment phases are compared. Percentage of non-overlapping data (PND) results were 100% for five students, which is characterized as a highly effective treatment according to single-case standards. Two students had minimal overlap between baseline and treatment, but their scores indicate that the treatment was effective at improving informational text learning. On a cumulative pre/post social studies test, students at School A improved from 26% to 56%, and at School B, students scored 28% on pretest and 81% on posttest. Results indicate that treatment components that were previously effective for students with LD in secondary school are promising for enhancing informational text learning for students in upper elementary school. A social validity questionnaire indicated that students perceived graphic organizers as an efficacious practice for improving learning potential. / text

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Central Florida, 2009. / Adviser: Enrique Ortiz. Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-110).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2002. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 139-150). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users. Address: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/uoregon/fullcit?p3045090.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Liberty University School of Education, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.