A comparison of the oral student responses in a class using simulation games prior to reading selected short stories and a class not using simulation games

The problem of the study was to determine whether the use of simulation board games prior to reading selected short stories would result in oral student responses which were different from the responses made by students who had not played the games before reading the stories. The nature of the responses was investigated; the number of students responding was recorded; student response as a measure of attitude toward reading the story was studied; and the effect on student response of using a conceptually unrelated game was explored. Three eleventh grade classes, taught by the same teacher, were used for the study. The experimental group and the control group did not differ significantly in intelligence, language ability, and income of the head of household. The treatment was conducted on three days, each one week apart. On each treatment day the control group read and discussed the selected story. On the first day of treatment the experimental group followed the same procedure as the control group so that a comparison of the response patterns without simulation games could be made. Thereafter, the experimental group played simulation board games, designed and informally tested by the researcher, to introduce concepts entailed in the selected stories. After playing the games, the students read and discussed the stories. A third group of students played a game conceptually unrelated to the assigned story. All class discussions were tape-recorded by the researcher, who also noted those students who participated in the discussions. The seven categories of student response to literature identified and defined by Squire (1964) were used to determine the nature of the student responses . Student attitudes toward reading the stories were defined as positive, negative, or neutral. The researcher had established with two English teachers a coding reliability of .92. All taped discussions were typewritten and coded. Some differences in the oral response patterns of the experimental and control groups were found . Students who had played the simulation games appeared to have more empathy for characters and their behaviors. The percentage of students participating in the class discussions increased 50 percent when simulation games were used. Longer discussion periods did not vary the total response pattern or increase appreciably the total number of students participating in the discussions. Responses from the group playing the unrelated game were much like the responses in the control group. When games were used, teacher talk decreased; students responded more readily without teacher questioning . Overt student responses were found to be ineffective as a measure of student attitudes toward reading the stories. The results of the study indicated several implications for classroom teaching. In addition, suggestions for further research are presented.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed. D.

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Supervision

Department dc:contributor.department

Supervision

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Year dc:date.issued

1975

Author dc:creator

• Kelly, Patricia P.

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10919/113524

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/113524