310 9. Additional Case Studies 9.1 Improving Teaching Description The purpose of this study was to investigate whether incorporating activi- ties tailored to the learning style preferences of students provided evidence of an improved \"performance\" over traditional (textbook) teaching meth- ods. The Learning Style Inventory (LSI) instrumentl provides a measure of a pers0n's strength with respect to their tactile (hands-on constructiml), kinesthetic (role playing), auditory, and visual perceptive abilities. A per- son who scores 60 or more in one of these categories is regarded as having a strong preference for a learning style which addresses their particular perceptive ability. From a teaching perspective, this suggests that students will more easily absorb and retain new information if their learning style preferences are incorporated into the teaching process. Design A total of 59 elementary students (9 to 10 years old) in three classes (CLASS) were taught three successive science units (UNIT) over a period of three weeks. Before commencing the experiment, the students3 learning style preferences were assessed using the LSI instrument. To avoid bias, the students were not made aware of their learning style preferences during the experiment. experiment. To establish prior knowledge of the student1 a pretest (FEE) consisting of multichoice questions was given at the beginning of each unit. At the completion of the unit, students were assessed by means of a multichoice format posttest (PST), a semantic differential scale (SD3) or \"attitude\" test (how the students felt about learning science), and a higher-learning test (HL'I') which required a worked-out solution to a problem. The maximum score for PRE and PST was 100%. For SDS, 60 represented the highest possi- ble (positive) attitude score. The HLT test was marked on a scale of 1,2,3,4 with 4 representing a correctly worked-out solution and 1,2,3 assigned to a partially correct solution accordingly. A different class was selected as the Control group {GROUP=C) for each unit. This was taught using traditional teaching methods only. The other two classes were designated as the Experiment groups (GRUUP=E) which augmented traditional instruction with tactile and kinesthetic activities for the students. Auditory and visual activities were not considered in this experiment. The control group assignments were as follows. UNIT=1:C=CLASS3 UNIT=2:C=CLASSI 1The L3] instrument is also discussed in Chapter 4. The Data The results from this experiment are contained in the dataset c91 . dat which has the following format. The variables are defined in Table 9.1. UNIT=1 UNIT=2 UNIT=3 PREF ID CLASS SEX P1 F1 S1 H1 P2 F2 $2 H2 P3 F3 $3 H3 T KA V s01 2 M 70 100 60 4 48 88 52 3 72 64 60 2 61 44 57 55 $02 2 F 80 85 60 2 50 76 60 3 70 72 60 1 35 44 57 34 $59 3 F 78 78 58 3 18 70 60 3 26 90 60 4 61 51 48 50 TABLE 9.1. Variable Definitions Variable Description ID Identity Code Assigned to Student CLASS Class Group: 1, 2, 3 (n1 = 21, n2 = n3 = 19) UNIT Science Unit Taught: 1, 2, 3 GROUP C = Control: Traditional Teaching Method E = Experiment: T and K Activities Included Assessment Variables Column Coding PRE Pretest (for each UNIT) P1, P2, P3 PST Posttest F1, F2, F3 SDS Attitude score S1, $2, $3 HLT Higher-learning test H1, H2, H3 Learning Style Preferences PREF T = Tactile A = Auditory K = Kinesthetic V = VisualAssignment The objective of the project was to assess the statistical significance of the following four hypotheses which are stated in directional form. H1 There will be a difference between PST by GROUP H2 There will be a difference between HLT by GROUP. H3 There will be a difference between SDS by GROUP. H4 There will be an interaction between PST and PREF by GROUP.J K M N Q R T O P S L F G H HLT3 tactile kinesthetic auditory visual A P D E pretest2 posttest2 attitudescore2 HLT2 pretest3 posttst3 attitudescore3 55 HLT1 44 57 IN sex class pretest1 posttestl attitudescorel 60 61 id 4 48 88 52 72 64 44 57 34 W W $01 70 100 60 60 35 M 50 76 60 70 72 44 65 60 64 ;02 F 80 85 54 64 60 61 95 60 30 87 60 3 54 48 ;03 64 30 34 78 64 58 59 43 N 60 33 35 54 40 65 65 $04 72 52 72 58 3 78 80 60 85 60 58 52 57 66 34 60 ANNANNAP $05 M 80 58 60 48 66 56 61 47 57 60 65 85 40 $06 42 52 48 90 60 40 27 57 34 TI TI $07 48 100 56 50 52 60 26 56 60 78 60 61 44 40 65 75 100 $08 M 82 76 100 60 32 60 66 44 61 64 $09 60 34 92 60 66 76 60 57 34 75 100 60 54 54 60 26 37 11 $10 60 18 48 61 51 85 56 66 65 2 511 32 95 60 88 60 22 61 64 57 65 60 $12 M 72 72 60 D N D N N W N N D D N W W W A W N W N W N W N 90 94 56 26 51 40 65 H H P P P N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N 14 58 95 60 80 86 59 60 58 60 61 57 57 39 $ 14 80 94 56 76 56 51 61 39 wwADDWAW 16 $15 M 95 57 28 58 55 61 59 92 57 76 68 55 80 54 60 52 47 57 PWANNNNNNNWHEN 17 $16 TI TI 78 60 26 72 38 50 52 57 57 65 18 $17 45 60 78 60 74 60 72 N 60 35 64 66 65 9 s18 M 58 44 42 54 48 88 59 30 51 53 50 10 s19 50 90 60 60 70 38 70 85 60 41 52 NN 38 36 35 57 40 65 $20 58 18 100 53 61 80 43 96 36 61 64 40 65 22 $21 M 52 40 60 24 45 26 37 57 50 100 46 W NW 60 78 55 23 39 30 50 82 46 52 64 57 66 24 52 52 60 45 70 96 40 78 95 55 $24