The Effect of Direct Instruction of Main Idea and Supporting Details on Expository Passages: a Multi-Sensory Approach

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of direct instruction of main idea and supporting details on expository passages using a multi-sensory approach. The subjects of this study were 32 ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade remedial reading and writing students in a rural high school in Western New York State. All subjects were administered a researcher-designed pretest using expository passages. A main idea question and a supporting detail question were given for each of six passages. Three separate treatment lessons were administered using a visual, tactile, and auditory approach. A posttest, designed to be equal in difficulty to the pretest, was administered after the completion of the three treatment lessons. A t test of dependent means was used to test each hypothesis at the .05 level of significance. The data from the study reached statistical significance for the selection of main ideas after direct instruction using a multi-sensory approach. Results of the study showed no statistically significant difference in the selection of supporting details after direct instruction using a multi-sensory approach.