Quantitative Methods Forum

When:
January 19, 2015 @ 10:15 AM – 11:15 AM
2015-01-19T10:15:00-05:00
2015-01-19T11:15:00-05:00
Where:
Norm Endler Seminar Room (BSB 164)
Cost:
Free

huckSpeaker: Dr. Geoffrey Huck, York University
        Writing Department

Title: The Effect on Writing Fluency of Participating in a Reading Group: Proposal and Rationale for an Experiment

Abstract: Our research program aims specifically to address the following three questions: 1. Can reluctant readers be induced to become avid independent readers through enrollment in a book group in university? 2. Does enrollment in a voluntary reading group in university increase the writing skill of reluctant readers as measured at the end of the course using (i) a standard holistic rubric and (ii) the Professional Intuitive Rating approach? 3. Does enrollment in a voluntary reading group in university increase the writing skill of reluctant readers as measured 12 months after the end of the course using (i) a standard holistic rubric and (ii) the Professional Intuitive Rating approach?

Contemporary experimental support for the hypothesis that writing skill depends on reading experience is abundant. Such studies have typically involved testing on proxies for writing skill like sentence and paragraph comprehension (to measure reading achievement) and spelling and vocabulary deployment (to measure writing achievement). Despite their popularity, however, tests of this kind are unlikely to deliver high inter-rater reliability scores unless standard rubrics are devised according to which writing classes are taught, tests are designed, and raters are trained to follow in their grading. At the same time, the validity of the assessments is questionable, since the proxies don’t entirely align with the construct of quality of writing as generally understood.

We plan to circumvent these traditional problems in our research in two ways. First, we propose an experiment in which writing is not taught but in which students are encouraged to read by participating in a voluntary reading group designed to increase their independent reading. Second, we propose to assess their writing skill through what we call the Professional Intuitive Rating (PIR) approach. The PIR approach involves drawing raters from the ranks of professional people outside academia and then asking them to judge the quality of writing samples according to standards they might use in a hiring decision: either Yes, this person has acceptable writing skills, or No, this person doesn’t have acceptable writing skills.

The talk describes results of a pilot test using ten samples and eight graders to evaluate the potential of the PIR approach. We then present an experimental design to address our research questions with the intent of obtaining feedback for refinement.