Spelling : a study in the effectiveness of visual impress techniques in improving long term retention of spelling words

Includes bibliographical references (pages 128-137)A pre-post test study design to evaluate the effectiveness\ud of visual impress techniques in improving long term\ud retention of spelling words. The study utilizes forty-eight\ud subjects enrolled in two resource and two special day\ud classes at an area high school. The ethnic composition of\ud the subjects indicates white; southeast Asian; hispanic and\ud black students.\ud The subjects were divided into four groups:\ud a control group which received no formal instruction, a\ud group which received conventional spelling instruction, one\ud group which received visualization seatwork activities and\ud one group which received visualization activities and board\ud work.\ud Instruction was provided by two Special Education\ud teachers and a Special Education Aide who held a General\ud Secondary credential. All groups except the control group\ud received the same instructional materials each week.\ud Comparison of groups was achieved by comparing percentage\ud of change amoung the three lowest scoring subjects in\ud each group. Students in the control group recorded a percentage\ud of improvement score of 8.2%. The group receiving\ud conventional instruction achieved a percentage of change\ud score of 13%. Percentage of improvement among the two\ud groups receiving visualization instruction was 65.5% and\ud 24%. The most dramatic improvement was achieved by the\ud group which received visualization activities plus board\ud work activities.\ud Results of the study suggest that visualization techniques\ud are effective instructional techniques with learning\ud disabled students