E-Book Content
Sponsoring Committee: Professor Charles Skinner, Chairman, Professor John Rockwell, and Professor Nila Smith
A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE READING RATE CONTROLLER TECHNIQUE VERSUS THE SPEEDED BOOK READING TECHNIQUE FOR HEADING IMPROVEMENT ON THE COLLEGE LEVEL
SHIRLEY ULIMAN
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Education of New York University
1950 T:r 3i3 acqsptaArrt
DEC
'I
ijbO
I h recy guarantee that no part of the dissertation or document which I have submitted for publication has been heretofore published and (or) copy righted in the United States of America, except in the cases of passages quoted from other published sources; that I am the sole author and proprietor of said dissertation or document; that the dissertation or document contains no matter which, if published, will be libelous or otherwise injurious, or infringe in any way the copyright of any other party; and that I will defend, indemnify and hold harmless New York University against all suits and proceedings which may be brought and against all claims which may be made against New York University by reason of the publication of said dissertation.
July 28, 1950
ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to the chairman of my Sponsoring Committee, Professor Charles Skinner, and also to Professors John Rockwell and Nila B. Smith for their guidance during this investigation and for their kind assistance In all aspects of the study. Professor Louise Rosenblatt, also of New York Uni versity, has given this writer invaluable aid in writing the outline for this study. Thanks, too, to Mr. Victor Eimicke of New York Uni versity and Dr. La Verne Buckton of Brooklyn College for their assistance in the statistical aspects of the study. For aid in securing mechanical devices, my apprecia tion to professor Ernest Wood of New York University and Dr. Earl Taylor of the Washington Square Reading Clinic. My sincere thanks,also, to the various people at Brooklyn College who made the administration of this study possible:
especially Deans Gaede, Marony and Washburne,
Dr. Katz, and Mr. Hillary. I am indebted to Appleton-Century for allowing re prints of materials from Purposeful Reading in College by McAllister (1942) and from Improving Reading Ability by Stroud and Ammons (1949); to John Wiley and Sons for Psychological Statistics by Me Nemar (1949); and to Teachers College Bureau - ii -
of Publications for Study Type of Reading Exercises by Strang (1947).
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I
PAGES THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE The Statement of the Problem*............ Sub-problems*.... ,....................... Definitions.................. Delimitations*.......................... Basic Assumptions.................. Significance of the Problem..............
1 1
.
CHAPTER
3 4 4
II
RELATED STUDIES Growth of Reading Instruction............ 12 14 Rate .and Comprehension.................. Student Selection*..................... 16 Methodology of Reading Instruction....... 17 Studies Using Instruments................ 20 What the Colleges Have Done.............. 23 Reading Rate Controller. ............. 32 Summary of Investigations*.............. 35
III
PROCEDURES Approach*.................. Subjects* ............................. 40 Description of Test M a t e r i a l s * . • 42 Reading Materials* ..................... 45 Me thod ............................. 47
IV
V
ESTABLISHMENT OE GROUPS Introduction*.......................... Selection.............................. Equating the Groups..................... TREATMENT OE DATA AND RESULTS Changes in Group A*.......... • Changes