Examining the use of Academic Vodcasts to Support Vocabulary Acquisition in Students with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

The purpose of this experimental research study was to investigate the effects of using academic science-term vodcasts to provide vocabulary instruction, and more specifically, comprehension support in science to middle-school adolescents with and without LD. A total of 105 suburban middle school students, of which 17 presented with LD, were randomly assigned to one of two conditions, with direct instruction occurring over a one-week period. The two experimental conditions; the first which required students to use a traditional “dictionary approach” to learning and studying a list of prescribed science terms, and a second condition which required students to use a vodcast strategy to learn and study the same list of prescribed science terms. The vodcast strategy included the student viewing a researcher-constructed vodcast; a multimedia construction which employs the tenets of CTML, focusing on a prescribed grade-level vocabulary list, drawn from current curriculum, and evidence-based practice as presented in a mnemonic graphic organizer, for the recording of fundamental components of vocabulary acquisition; e.g. the term, it’s definition as delivered in the vodcast, its correct usage in a sentence, and an example of the prescribed term. The results indicated all students, with and without LD, performed better using the vodcast strategy, when compared with their peers, who used a dictionary-focused approach, with writing down the same components for term acquisition as the vodcast strategy. Anecdotal information in the form of a student satisfaction survey, completed with each class orally indicated an almost universal preference for the vodcast strategy over the more traditional approach to science-term vocabulary acquisition exercises.