Trimodal Programmed Instruction in Reading
This study was designed to evaluate the instructional effectiveness of the introductory units (Programs 1 25) of the Trimodal Programmed Instruction in Reading. A sample of twenty-four Ss was selected from grades 2, 3, and 4 in a K-7 school in a low socioeconomic census tract area. The selection process was designed to find those children who had been in school for several years, had a reasonable attendance record (at least 144 days out of a possible 180), and still had not learned to comprehend and meaningfully read words frequently used by primary children. Ss were administered the Criterion Test as a pretest; scores on two scales were obtained: Word Recognition Score and Functional Reading Score. Upon completion of the programs, subjects were readministered the Criterion Test. Substantial improvement in the scores of all Ss was noted. THIS STUDY EVALUATED the teaching efficacy of the first twenty-five lessons in the Trimodal Programmed Instruction in Reading with a selected group of second, third, and fourth grade children. The Trimodal Programmed Instruction in Read ing is a software package integrating visual, audio, and motor-manipulative functioning into a unique individualized system of reading instruction. The programs are operated by means of a Teledesk, a desk-like device incorporating film projection, tape playing, and recording equipment. The child, seated at the Teledesk and operating a programmed lesson, is a participating learner in a self-contained teaching environment. Each lesson in this Trimodal system is packaged in a double cartridge containing a film-strip loop and continuous audio tape. Visual input is projected onto the horizontal screen of the desk; audio input in transmitted via earphone or a desk speaker. The child responds both by motor manipulation of word plaques on the screen and by verbalizing the ques tions and answers. The pupil's verbal responses can be stored on a tape cassette, the functioning of which is automatically actuated by synchronized signals on the input tape. The programs can be either automatically paced or pupil paced. The child receives both visual and auditory confirmation of his motor and verbal responses. A teacher or proctor can monitor the audio tape and student's responses by means of an auxiliary earphone. ! The prototype of this learning module was original ly designed for an arithmetic series with a grant from the U.S. Office of Education (5) . A descrip tion of this series with photographs of an earlier model Teledesk has been published by Higgins and Rusch (5) . Other than the initial evaluative studies, with the arithmetic programs only, no further re search has been reported.1 The introductory lessons of the Trimodal Program consist of five units with five programs in each unit. Forty-nine different words are taught in the first twenty-five programs. Almost all of these words are found in the first level word frequency lists of Dolch (1) , Durr (2) , Johnson (7) , Fry (3) , or Rinsland (8) . A notable exception being "giraffe. " Eleven of the words are plurals and four are contractions. The equipment and programs are designed to make effective use of the whole word method of instruction. In this approach, words are not broken into their component phonemes or divorced from their meaning. Rather, nouns are introduced into the child's vocab ulary with the aid of a graphic depiction. Other words, initially, include iconic exaggeration to aid on their association and discrimination. For example, when "these" and "those" are introduced, they contain the differential cues "thEse" and "thOse" and ap pear in different programs to avoid confusion in their similarity. The graphic and iconic cues are gradually eliminated in later programs as the words become familiar. This content downloaded from 40.77.167.83 on Wed, 18 May 2016 06:15:48 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 2 THE JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL EDUCATION The programs do not follow a story-line sequence. The preferred approach is toward developing a higher-order conceptual ability to classify members of taxonomic categories based upon their similariI ties and differences. For example, for the taxo nomic categories "animals, " "toys, " and "bears, " a frame may show drawings of a toy bear and a real bear with the following question-answer combina tions: How are this toy and that animal the same? They're the same because they're both bears.