USING GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS TO TEACH CONTENT AREA MATERIAL TO STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES
Open Access
Author:
Dexter, Douglas D.
Graduate Program:
Special Education
Degree:
Doctor of Philosophy
Document Type:
Dissertation
Date of Defense:
June 01, 2010
Committee Members:
Charles A Hughes, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor Charles A Hughes, Committee Chair/Co-Chair Linda Mason, Committee Member Kathy L Ruhl, Committee Member David Meigs Beyer, Committee Member
Keywords:
learning disabilities graphic organizers
Abstract:
A pretest-posttest comparison group design was used to investigate the effects of a semantic mapping lesson plus visual display versus a semantic mapping lesson alone on adolescents with learning disabilities (LD) ability to gain and maintain factual knowledge from expository social studies material. In addition, a posttest only comparison group design was used to examine the effects of the semantic mapping lesson plus visual display versus a semantic mapping lesson alone on adolescents with LD far-transfer ability. The results of this study supported the conclusion that semantic mapping was beneficial for factual recall, while the additive effect of a visual display significantly improved maintenance and far transfer for adolescents with LD. Results of this study also supported the conclusion that normally achieving students and low achieving students also benefit from semantic mapping and the visual display. This finding was consistent over written and multiple-choice measures. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
