Education Texts & Tests

Texts are used at all levels of education as a method or aid in helping students learn the content of a given course. Indeed, the importance of the textbook to student learning is perhaps no better stated than by Ornstein and Hunkins (1993):

...the textbook has the longest and most obvious influence on the curriculum...traditionally, it has been the most frequently used instructional material...In terms of purchasing, it receives the highest priority...Textbooks can have a strong influence or even dominate the nature and sequence of a course and thus profoundly affect the learning experiences of students...(p. 360).

And yet, despite the importance of the text as a learning resource, most teachers do nothing with the text beyond what Vacca and Vacca (1996) have termed "assigning and telling." In other words, teachers tend to assign students' certain chapters and/or sections of the text to read and then, in the following days, talk about or tell them about the material covered in the text assignment.

Some educators have noted this limited usage of such an important learning resource and have offered new strategies of teachers to use in order to move beyond simply assigning text material and talking with students about it later. Some of the most frequently recommended strategies are discussed below.

One strategy that can be used by teachers to move beyond assigning and telling as the only means of text utilization is a strategy developed by Schumm and Mangrum (1991) terme

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1. Having students read the text assignment for the purpose of updating their existing knowledge in the area. 2. Having students read the text assignment for the purpose of either confirming or disconfirming some prediction about what is covered in the text. 3. Having students read the text assignment for the purpose of learning about the structure of the text itself, e.g. its organizational scheme, its use of headings and subheadings, etc. 4. Having students read the text in order to apply a particular reading strategy and understand how the technique works when one is actually reading a book. 5. Having students read a text assignment for the purpose of pleasure. 6. Having students read a text assignment for the purpose of applying information obtained in the text, e.g., reading about first aid techniques and then putting bandages on other students. Blanton et. al (1990) also recommend that teachers stick to one single purpose per text assignment as poor readers will often have difficulty monitoring their reading when they must simultaneously attend to multiple purposes. It is further cautioned that care must be taken to make sure that each and every student fully understands the purpose set for any given assignment. Once

Category: Psychology - E