The Impact of Technology and Updated, Relevant Texts on Student Reading Comprehension

The Impact of Technology and Updated, Relevant Texts on Student Reading Comprehension

Research Type

My proposed capstone research is an action research study.

Research Topic and Relevance/References and Citations

This topic is relevant to the field of curriculum and instruction because it is a crucial part

in teaching students how to read. If students are unable to read then they will be unable to excel

in other tasks as well. Without comprehension, children gain no meaning from what they

read. Comprehension strategies are used to increase children’s understanding of the text

to help them become active readers by engaging with the text ( Brandon, P. by: D., n.d.). If

students are not gaining any meaning from the text they are trying to read, they will not

be engaged in reading and therefore will have no interest in working at becoming a better

reader. Students also will not be able to apply their reading to assignments and real world

events if they are gaining no meaning from it because of their lack in comprehension

skills. This is particularly true in the upper grades, where the curriculum requires that students

comprehend increasingly complex expository text. Consequently, teachers expect that, once

students complete the third grade, they will be able to read and understand textbooks in all

subjects, including science (What are some reasons to teach reading comprehension strategies in

content-area classes? IRIS Center., n.d.). Since reading comprehension is such a heavily

emphasized topic in grades K-2, 3rd grade teachers assume that students will come to them

knowing how to comprehend what they read. As students get older, teachers focus on this less

and less; therefore, if a student does not have enough reading comprehension strategies by the

end of 2nd grade, they will likely never fully learn making school and adult life difficult.

Problem Statement

There is a problem with my 2nd grade students’ reading comprehension skills. Students

need to comprehend the texts that they read to be able to complete more complex assignments.

The possible cause of this problem is that the current curriculum is not developmentally

appropriate because it does not include the use of technology that students nowadays are more

comfortable with than printed texts