| Variant title |
Traditional vs multisensory assessing the impact of writing tools on letter formation mastery through direct instruction. |
| Summary |
The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of direct instruction paired with multisensory tools on letter formation mastery, in comparison with direction instruction paired with traditional writing tools (paper and pencil) on letter formation mastery in early elementary students who experience persistent letter formation difficulties. Three early elementary students who experience persistent challenges with letter formation were selected for participation in this multiple-baseline across subjects study. Each student participated in three study phases. The first phase was a baseline phase to assess their existing letter formation knowledge. Next, students participated in direct instruction lessons on letter formation using paper and pencil tools. The third phase of the study maintained the structure of the direct instruction lessons used in the prior phase but used a multisensory writing tool instead of paper and pencil tools. Each student's rate of progress towards letter formation mastery was assessed to determine if the writing tool influenced the impact of direct instruction on students' letter formation acquisition. Overall, each student demonstrated varying rates of growth in phase two and phase three of the study. All students demonstrated greater rates of growth during phase two in comparison to phase three. Each student showed notable growth immediately following exposure to direct instruction. Based on the findings of this study, direct instruction paired with traditional writing tools had a greater impact on letter formation acquisition than direct instruction paired with multisensory tools. Several limiting factors including elements of the study design and students' positive responsesto initial direct instruction in phase two could have impacted these results. |
| General note | Presented to the Faculty of the Department of Special Education, Foundations and Research |
| General note | Advisor: Daniel Boudah |
| General note | Title from PDF t.p. (viewed April 16, 2024). |
| Dissertation note | M.A.Ed. East Carolina University 2022. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references. |
| Technical details | System requirements: Adobe Reader. |
| Technical details | Mode of access: World Wide Web. |
