Abstract of

A Formative Experiment Investigating the Use of Multimedia Book Reviews to Increase Elementary Students' Independent Reading

David Reinking

Janet Watkins

Using the methodology of a formative experiment (Jacob, 1990), this study investigated how a computer-based instructional intervention (creating multimedia reviews of books) might be implemented to achieve a valued pedagogical goal in literacy instruction (increasing the amount and diversity of elementary students' independent reading). Consistent with formative experiments, the following questions were addressed: (a) What factors in the educational environment enhance or inhibit the intervention's effectiveness in achieving the pedagogical goal? (b) How can the intervention and its implementation be modified during the experiment to achieve more effectively the pedagogical goal? (c) What unanticipated positive or negative effects does the intervention produce? (d) Has the educational environment changed as a result of the intervention? Diverse quantitative and qualitative data were gathered during 2 academic years in 4 fourth-grade and 5 fifth-grade classrooms in 3 schools. Major findings include that the success of the intervention was related to the mediating effects of using technology, changes in the interactions among students and teachers, the administrative climate of a school, teachers' perceptions of their technological expertise, and students' engagement in relation to their reading ability. Also discussed are what unanticipated effects were observed and the extent to which the respective classroom environments were changed by the intervention

Abstract from Reinking, D., & Watkins, J. (2000). A Formative Experiment Investigating the Use of Multimedia Book Reviews to Increase Elementary Students' Independent Reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 35(3), 384–419. doi: 10.1598/RRQ.35.3.4