The Impact of Direct Instruction and Cooperative Retelling using a Collaborative Podcasting tool on the Narrative Writing Skills of Upper Elementary School Children in the Inclusive Classroom Ofra Aslan A Thesis In the Department of Education Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Educational Technology) at Concordia University Montreal, Québec, Canada December, 2011 Ofra Aslan, 2011 CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES This is to certify that the thesis prepared By: Ofra Aslan Entitled: The Impact of Direct instruction and Cooperative Retelling using a Collaborative Podcasting tool on the Narrative Writing Skills of upper Elementary School Children in the Inclusive Classroom and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Educational Technology) complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the final examining committee: Chair Dr. C. Daniel-Hughes External Examiner Dr. L. Godard External to Program Dr. D. Pariser Examiner Dr. P. Abrami Examiner Dr. R. Bernard Thesis Supervisor Dr. R. Schmid Approved by Chair of Department or Graduate Program Director Dr. V. Venkatesh, Graduate Program Director December 12, 2011 Dr. B. Lewis, Dean, Faculty of Arts and Science ii ABSTRACT The Impact of Direct Instruction and Cooperative Retelling using a Collaborative Podcasting tool on the Narrative Writing Skills of Upper Elementary School Children in the Inclusive Classroom Ofra Aslan, Ph.D. Concordia University, 2011 To address the writing challenges experienced by many Normally Achieving students (NA) and students with learning disabilities (LD) in the inclusive classroom, this quasi-experiment study examined the outcomes of two technology-supported instructional interventions and an untreated control group with pretest and posttests, and posttest only, aimed at improving the narrative writing skills of cycle 3 (Grades 5 and 6) students. The first intervention was focused on the development of oral retelling skills using a direct instruction and a cooperative retelling (CR) method. The second intervention employed a direct instruction (DI) method. Embedded within each intervention was an additional weekly remediation session given to the LD students. Both interventions required participants to listen to podcasts of folktales hosted on the Internet site VoiceThread. The same site was used by the CR group to facilitate the cooperative retelling process. A total of 131 students, 57 Grade 5 and 74 Grade 6 students participated in the study, which lasted 5 months. While the treatments differed in their theoretical foundations and instructional interventions, both involved four cycles of folktale retelling iii written SURGXFWLRQ7RPHDVXUHWKHLPSDFWRIWKHWUHDWPHQWVSDUWLFLSDQWV¶SUH- and posttest written narratives were analyzed at both the microstructure level (story length and grammatical complexity as measured by the total number of T-units and syntax) and the macrostructure level (total number of episodes in the story as well as overall story coherence). Two-way ANOVAs conducted on gain score data indicated that students in the CR conditions at both the Grade 5 and Grade 6 levels outperformed students in the DI and the Control groups on most microstructure and macrostructure dependent variables. The impact of the CR intervention was evident for both normally achieving and students with learning disabilities. With the exception of the original story measure for the Grade 6 group, the DI intervention did not have a significant impact RQSDUWLFLSDQWV¶QDUUDWLYH writing skills. The results highlight the importance of oral language skills to narrative writing and demonstrate how cooperative learning instructional methods with feedback and review, supported by technologies, facilitate the development of written narrative competencies. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT My research is about narratives or stories. More specifically, I used folktales as the main instructional material. Folktales have a moral lesson and as I have now completed the requirements for my doctorate degree, I must acknowledge that the main lesson of my story is that I would have never been able to complete my degree and my dissertation without the help and support of many individuals along the way. To my supervisor, Dr. Richard Schmid, for his continuous support, guidance and help throughout my graduate studies and during the completion of my thesis; Dr. Schmid was there till the last moment and I extend my sincere gratitude to you. To Dr. Robert Bernard for his statistical expertise; I can now conduct statistical analyses that I did not know existed and understand what I am doing -in fact, I actually fell in love with statistics and the mental power that it requires. To Dr. Philip Abrami for rejecting my first thesis proposal which used a factorial design; Dr. Abrami, you were right. To Mr. Douglas Clarke the principal of ABC academy, my research school; Mr. Clarke was supportive throughout the research process, including the writing of the grant proposal, the purchasing of the technologies that were necessary for the research, approaching participating teachers and providing me with the ongoing help as needed. I would have never been able to conduct my research without Mr. Clarke¶V support. The same goes to my research teachers, Mrs. Hazel Krupp and Mrs. Sherrill Black who opened up their classrooms to me. Mrs. Krupp and Mrs. Black allowed me to use their classroom time to deliver my instructional intervention, collected the consent forms and provided me with guidance when needed. I salute you for your willingness, openness and v support. To my control classrooms teacher Ms. Krista Koscher for being willing to serve as a control teacher which was essential for my research methodology. To my family, my husband, partner and friend Donald Olds, my Rock of Ages, who has supported me throughout this process and who had to endure an absent wife; words are not enough to express my gratitude to you. And finally to my children, Jasmine, Emanuel and Simone, who listen to many folktales over the years. My children loved listening to audiobooks of folktales and it is their experience that planted the seed for my dissertation topic. My children kept me from being consumed by my studies and gave me a balance that I much needed. You are my pride and joy. vi I dedicate this manuscript to My father Shmuel Aslan For his unconditional love, wit, intellect, and humility My father would have been very proud vii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ xiiii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... xiv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 Purpose of the Study ....................................................................................................... 3 Research Questions ......................................................................................................... 4 Significance of the Study ................................................................................................ 4 Definition of Terms......................................................................................................... 6 Overview ......................................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................ 8 Narratives and Cognition ................................................................................................ 8 Story Grammar.............................................................................................................. 10 Oral Versus Written Narratives .................................................................................... 15 Retelling ........................................................................................................................ 17 Cognitive Models of the Writing Process ..................................................................... 19 Learning Disabilities ..................................................................................................... 33 Learning Disabilities and Narrative Production ............................................................................ 35 Direct Instruction .......................................................................................................... 35 Cooperative Learning .................................................................................................... 36 ICT Tools Supporting Cooperative Learning and Narrative Development ......................... 39 Technologies as Cognitive Tools .................................................................................. 41 CHAPTER 3: METHOD .................................................................................................. 43 viii Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 43 Research Design ............................................................................................................ 43 Validity ........................................................................................................................