CHAPTER V
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
This study derive from an interest about the extent to which
graphic organizers along with the guiding principles for instructional
practices for emotionally disturbed students who also have learning
disabilities are effective. More specifically, whether or not the use of
graphic organizers in conjunction with the proposed guiding principles of the
administration will help students with special needs develop their interest in
understanding, organizing, or recalling important concepts or content. The
analysis substantiated that graphic organizer in conjunction with the guiding
principles: consistent, coherent, and creative, produced high
performance for the students. In other words, the findings clearly show that
graphic organizers along with the guiding principles are effective procedures
to make learning meaningful for students with special needs.
It was evident from the data that students scored significantly
low without the use of graphic organizers for both Mathematics and Science.
The analysis shows that only three pupils performed 60 % for level accuracy in
focusing on relevant information for Mathematics out of the twelve students.
The others performed below 60 %. For level of accuracy in building
connections, level of accuracy in integrating new information, and level of
independence all students performed below 60% for Mathematics. For Science
without the use of graphic organizers, all students performed below 60 % for
all level. Therefore, students at P753K have difficulties learning new
concepts or solving problems and integrating new information when information
is not structured, or arranged in a labeled graphic pattern.
The first research question addressed the extent to which
learners demonstrated skills in choosing relevant information in the text using
graphic organizers. The analysis shows that all pupils scored high (4) for
level of accuracy in focusing on relevant information for both Mathematics and
Science. This means that they demonstrated skills in choosing relevant
information. The pupils who performed 100% for level of accuracy chose the
most significant pattern when selecting relevant information to solve the given
Mathematics problem or selecting relevant information in the text to answer a
Science question. Those who performed at a lower percentage, such as 90% for
level of accuracy chose a revealing pattern. Thus, the first research question
was answered in the affirmative: learners demonstrated a great deal of skills
in choosing relevant information when they use graphic organizers.
The second research question addressed the extent to which
students demonstrated skills in building connections among ideas in the text
using graphic organizers. The analysis shows that learners scored high (4) for
level of accuracy in building connections among ideas or in solving a problem
or building connections among ideas in the text of a Science reading or
experiment. The students who performed 100 % for level of accuracy in building
connections among ideas demonstrated skills in building significant pattern
according to the teacher-directed graphic organizers. On the other hands, the
others who scored lower than 100% demonstrated skills in building some
patterns. Accordingly, the second research question was answered in the
affirmative: learners built a great deal of connections among ideas when using
graphic organizers.
The third research question focused on the extent to which
learners demonstrated skills in integrating new information using graphic
organizers. The analysis indicates that learners scored high (4) for
demonstrating skills in integrating new information for both Mathematics and
Science. The students who performed 100% for this category integrated relevant
new information while the others who have an average lower than 100 %
integrated some patterns of new information. Therefore, the third research
question was answered in the affirmative: learners demonstrated a good deal of
skills in integrating new information when using graphic organizers.
The fourth research question addressed the extent to which
learners performed independently with the use of graphic organizers. The
analysis reveals that for Mathematics out of the twelve students, five students
averaged 100 % level of independence or a score of 4, one student averaged 98%,
one student averaged between 79 -98%, another one averaged between 85-95%,
another one averaged 85%, two students averaged 75%, one student averaged 70%,
and another one averaged 59%. The mean for mathematics scores is 4. This
means that the level of independence for Mathematics is high. Regarding
Science, out of the seven students, two of them averaged 90%, one student
averaged 85%, one student averaged 80%, two students averaged 79%, and another
one averaged 75%. The mean for Science scores is 3.14. This means that the
level of independence for Science is fairly high. Hence, the fourth research
question is answered in the affirmative: students performed independently much
with the use of graphic organizers.
Note that, the mean for Mathematics scores without the use of
graphic organizers is 1.31, and the mean for Science scores without the use of
graphic organizers is 1.42. These same mean scores using graphic organizers
are about 3.85 for both Mathematics and Science, a significant improvement.
Baxendell (2003) argues that, today, the concern about graphic
organizers no longer centers on whether they are valuable instructional tools,
but rather on how to use them effectively to meet the varied educational needs
of students. Therefore, to meet the educational needs of the pupils at 753K
who are learners with special needs, they were exposed to graphic organizers in
a consistent manner. That is, the investigator created sets of
graphic organizers, and for 10 days he established a routine for implementing
them in his classroom. Second, he made relationships coherent by
providing labels for the relationship between concepts in graphic organizers.
In other words, he made them clear and straight-forwards. Third, he integrated
them in creative and engaging ways into different areas such as
mathematics and science. Graphic organizers were used in all stages of lesson
design. In other words, the investigator used the three established principles
for effective graphic organizers: consistent, coherent,
creative (see Baxendell, 2003). As a result, as the findings
indicate, students paid attention to relevant information in text. They built
relevant connections among ideas in the text. They organized information into
coherent structure and integrated the new information or connected it to their
prior knowledge. Consequently, they scored high (4) on the levels of the
accuracy according to the rubrics.
This work is a beginning. I have examined a very small number of
trees in the forest. This is a major consequence of working in such a short
time period. Further research may modify or reverse the finding. Only twelve
subjects participated in this study. Only ten days were devoted to this study.
During a few days/hours especially after lunch or gym, some students refused
to complete their assignments. Only SIE VII students were involved in the
study, because of their handicap, some of them were not motivated and certainly
did not feel compel to complete more assignments. These emotionally disturbed
students have short attention span and tire quickly with instruction/assignment
after a period of twenty minutes. A larger sample and a longer period of time
are needed to obtain valid conclusions. In other words, the results cannot be
generalized from this sample to the general population. However, this study
allow us to see the effectiveness of graphic organizers along with the guiding
principles for instructional practices for emotionally disturbed students who
also have learning disabilities for a period of ten days.
Despite the limits of this study, it is worthwhile to address the
implications for the School administration action. According to the result,
the four research questions were answered in the affirmative because at the
four levels - accuracy in focusing on relevant information, accuracy in
building connections among idea, accuracy in integrating new information, and
performing independently - students score high, that is 4. This indicates that
there is no need for the administration to adjust or modify the idea of
displaying information graphically along with the established guiding
principles for the students.
It is useful at this point to mention some of the shortcomings of
this action research study. For some, two major problematic features of this
research will be the reliance of this study on only a few SIE VII students and
on students at P753K/Brooklyn School for Career Development. This study should
include other SIE, such as SIE IV and others Special Education schools because
the SIE VI students at this school may be special cases, as all of them have a
good performance with graphic organizers. It is hoped that future research
will take up these tasks.
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