A Research on the Effectiveness of the Type of Handout in the Test Scores of Freshmen Students of Silliman University: Plain Handouts VS Fill-in-the-Blank Handouts

Submitted to:

Professor Lourdes Angela Piñero

Submitted by:

Caballero, Frances Nicole T.

Dela Peña, Cheska May A.

Pineda, Kristy Zaren E.

Table of Contents

Chapter I

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Rationale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Review of Related Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Theoretical Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Conceptual Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Statement of Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Significance of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Scope and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Chapter II: Research Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Sampling Plan . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Research Instruments and Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Data Collection Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Treatment of Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Acknowledgement

The study isn’t made possible without the people who helped the researchers throughout the completion of the experiment. First of all, the researchers would like to extend their heartfelt gratitude to Prof. Lourdes Angela Piñero for teaching the basics of experimental research, for guiding and correcting their research papers as well as the pointing out the errors in the study. To Ms. Gazelle, for being helpful whereas teaching what the proper methods are to be used for the study. To Mr. Kemmons S. Kilat, a teacher from the Mathematics Department of Silliman University for checking the researchers’ statistical interpretation of the data collected. To the Psychology Department secretary, Mrs. Edna Flaviano for reserving and allowing the researchers to use a room where the experiment will be conducted. To the respondents that came during the experiment despite personal schedules. In addtion, the researchers would also like to thank their parents for giving out full support and encouragement for the betterment of the study. Lastly, to God Almighty for keeping the researchers’ motivated and determined despite stress and shortcomings and for making all things possible.

Chapter I: Introduction

According to the Merriam-Webster and the article from the University of Sussex, a handout is a printed summary of important information or a fact sheets that are being distributed for free during lectures that can help in making the students understand and learn more about the topics being discuss, which can free the students from note taking. It can help in providing additional information during or when in a non-contact time with the lecturers.

The article from the University of Sussex, it was stated, since handout scan serve a lot of uses, there are some suggestions about different kinds of format on how you encode the information that might be applicable or suitable for you. Here are some of the suggestions: the Skeleton Handout, which provides an outline form of the lecture with key statements; the Gapped Handout or the Fill-in-the blank Handout, provides all the information but leaves a space or misses out some important terms for the listeners or students to fill up during the discussion; the Key information Handout, this assures that the key information is not copied incorrectly and it is not omitted while taking down notes. This includes the maps, quotations, complex diagrams, references, and etc.; and the Dense/Plain text Handout, which provides the information completely.

In this experimental research paper, we focus on the fill-in-the blank handout and the dense text handout. The purpose of this experimental research is for us to know if there is a difference in test scores of the freshmen college students between a fill-in-the blank handouts and dense text handouts.

As the researchers, we want to know if there is a difference in the test scores or results of the freshmen college students between a fill-in-the blank handouts. We want to know if which of the two is better to use during the lectures. We want to know which of the two will help the lecturer makes the students listen attentively during the lectures. We want to know the advantages and the disadvantages of the fill in the blank handout and the dense text handout. We also want to figure out what will be the benefits of this two handouts for the students.

Rationale

As students, we face the pages and pages of handouts that are distributed to us everyday. The researchers decided to tackle this study for this affects the way of learning since handouts are such a norm in the classroom setting, especially in college, and in classes that seem to be very handout-based. So, by finding out what kind of handout is more effective, whether fill-in-the-blank or plain, the researchers will be able to improve the way a student learns. The researchers will not only be helping themselves, but also teachers and their fellow students. The findings of this study that the researchers will be conducting will also lead to further studies with different kinds of handouts, there are still so much more possibilities. It is very possible to compare the results of this study to another future study, and so on, to be able to really figure out which is the absolute best kind of handout there is to use in lectures. The possibilities of further studies are endless, other factors like color of the paper, type of font, presence of pictures compared to no pictures. The use of handouts are not just in classroom settings, many professionals also use handouts or leaflets during presentations. By doing this study, the researchers not only help students, but, help learning memory in general.

Review of Related Literature

There has been a lot of discussion on handouts, and there are many factors that can be experimented. For example, the presence of handouts alone in a lecture can be an experiment, as is. According to the article, from an internet source from the University of Sussex, handouts can be an effective way in helping the students focus more on the discussion and can help them understand more on the lessons rather than spending their time in copying all the notes from their teacher’s or professor’s visual aids. Additionally, handouts may also serves as a reference for the students, they can use their handouts for reviewing if they will have an exam, and they can highlight the important information that are on their handouts. This concept has been plugged into the experiment, handouts serving as a reviewer before an exam.

In another related literature by Janis Mikits (2009), “The Use of Classroom handouts”, Mikits also added that the professor must evaluate the costs and benefits to student’s development before deciding whether or not to provide handouts and, if so, the form of handouts to be used. This then shows that there is an importance in the type of handout that should be distributed to a group of students. There is not only a possible difference for test scores, but also a difference in students’ engagement and participation in a lecture. Mitkins also discusses that there is a need for variance in the kinds of handouts being distributed to a class,. This being said, according to the same article mentioned earlier from the University of Sussex, there are a few recommended types of handouts that their researchers believed to be most effective; skeleton handout, gapped handout/fill-in-the-blank handout, key information handout. In another article by the University of Westminster, their researchers have suggested handouts in the form of worksheets, which they have defined as a handout that contains questions or problems that students are required to answer or solve, and laboratory sheet, which contain a set of instructions for the students to follow.

The skeleton handout contains an outline form of text of information from the lecture with the key statements and the order of the information. Another type of handout is the key information handout which includes maps, quotations, complex diagrams, and etc., that relate to the lecture. Next, is the gapped/fill-in-the-blank handout, the type of handout the researchers of this study have chosen to compare to plain handouts. A gapped handout is the handout which contains information from the lecture, however, has blanks which the students have to fill in during the course of the lecture. This type of handout was chosen for this type of handout because unlike the plain text handout, this still requires a little bit of writing compared to any other type of handout. .

In a study by Gayle A. Brazeau, PhD, from the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, he has explained that faculty members should question whether providing handouts really facilitates students' learning since they have observed that students have diminished their opportunity to develop strategies for organizing information in their own cognitive perspective. The disadvantage of dense handouts, in this case, is that it tends to relieve students from being attentive to class discussions since they too often rely entirely on the handouts since they come from the instructor and must therefore be complete. Finally, the availability of complete notes may reduce the incentive for students' attending class since all the information is presumably available in the handout. This is another input of related literature that has helped form the concept of this study. Brazeau touches on the concepts of completeness and incompleteness, which is what the researchers of this study are manipulating in handouts. Brazeau explains that despite the advantages of providing handouts to students, there are also disadvantages of having extensive handouts. According to his study, providing extensive handouts tends to reduce of taking down important notes. It also gives a way for students to rely on their handouts since it is complete, they become more dependent of the handouts, and most especially it gives a way for students to be absent in their class since the lesson is completely available on the handouts.

Many of what has been read for this research has helped shape this study, especially the discussions on completeness and incompleteness. Thus, the plain text./dense handouts and the gapped/fill-in-the-blank handouts are deemed most fit for the study.

Theoretical Framework

The study that is being conducted involving the effectiveness of the type of handout in a class lecture can be related to the concepts in Gestalt Psychology. One of which is the theory of the Zeigarnik effect by Bluma Zeigarnik.

In the Zeigarnik effect, it is believed that people remember better objects that are incomplete or interrupted. This ties in with the idea of the fill-in-the-blank handout, which is going to be used in the experiment. This theory can be conceptualized into our experiment for the fact that the researchers will be playing with the thought of incompleteness. In a sense, the use of the fill-in-the-blank handouts will prove this theory for the incompleteness and the need to complete of the fill-in-the-blank handout will affect the students in a way that they will remember it better, according the the concept of the Zeigarnik effect.

Another theory this experiment can lean on is the Von Restorff Effect. In this theory, what stands-out, sticks better to our memory than those of the average. For instance, in a list of words, one word might be in a different color from all the other words. According to the Von Restorff effect, that word with the different color will be better remembered since it stands out from the other words. We can simply correlate this to our study since the missing words from the fill-in-the-blank handouts will simply stand-out since they are not part of the average words that should be in the handout already, and in the participants’ handwriting.

Conceptual Framework

For the experiment, the researchers decided to research about the difference in the test results of the freshmen college students, between fill in the blanks and plain text handouts. We want to know if the students who are provided with the fill-in-the blank handout will have more promising results in their test scores as oppose to students who are given plain text handouts.

In this experiment, the researchers will divide the thirty subjects into two groups. The half of it will be provided with the fill-in-the blank handout, which they will use during the discussion, and during this discussion the student will surely listen attentively because they have to write or fill in the missing important information in the handout for them to be able to understand more the topic being discussed by the lecturer. By filling in the important information they will remember more about the terms that are unfamiliar to them. Which may help in giving better results in their test scores. While the other half of the subjects will be provided with the plain text handout, which may trigger them to listen attentively during the discussion because they have all the information provided for them in the handouts, which can be a factor in affecting the test scores in a matter of having a low test results.

Statement of Problem:
Is there a significant difference in the test results of the freshmen college students between a fill in the blank /gapped handout and a dense/plain text handout?

Statement of objectives: To research about the use of handouts in different settings. To conduct an experiment in which will determine if either fill-in-the-blank handouts are more effective in students’ abilities to acquire data than regular densely text handouts, vice versa. To keep open options for further studies using the results after said experiment.

Statement of hypotheses:
Scientific hypothesis: There is a difference in test results of the freshmen college students between a fill-in-the-blank handout and a dense/plain text handout.
Null hypothesis: There is no significant difference in test results of the freshmen college students between a fill-in-the-blank handout and a dense/plain text handout.

Statement of assumptions:
Students have all gone through the use of handouts and are expected to know what to do with them when required to review.

Operational Definitions: In this experiment, handouts are defined as an aid in learning which are regularly used in a classroom setting. Additionally, there are many types of handouts, however, in this experiment, the only types that will be tested for effectiveness will be a plain/dense text handout and a fill-in-the-blank handout. A plain/dense text handout is the handout that is the usual form of handouts given to students. It is just paragraphs of information, or bulleted information. On the other hand, the gapped/fill-in-the-blank handout is the form of handout that needs to be filled up with keywords or other necessary information during the lecture. Both types of handouts will be used as reviewers. The handouts will serve as the independent variable in this experiment. In order to be able to pinpoint a significant difference in the usage of the different type of handouts, the researchers will need to conduct a comprehensive test to the subjects to obtain test scores. The collected test scores will indicate which handout is most effective in the study.

Significance of study To learn is a daily objective as we grow. All of us start learning since the day we gain consciousness around us, and we stop learning only when we are no longer conscious of anything in this world. So, what is meant to be said here is that, improvement of ways to enhance learning must be studied and conducted. As students, we have grown accustomed to the different kinds of mediums for learning. Moving on to studying in college, in our university, what caught our attention most was the use of handouts. Every professor, even student reporters, distribute handouts on a regular basis. When asked why, all say it is to serve as a reinforcement of whatever it is being discussed in the lecture, also for the audience to be more focused on the lecturer rather than the usual struggle students go through when listening and taking down all notes. Due to the regular use of handouts in classes, this study is significant because the results of this experiment will help enhance learning. As simple as it is, this will have an effect in the way an audience can internally remember what is being discussed. Thus, a more efficient way for professors and reporters to relay what they know to their audience. Finding what kind of handout is most effective in acquiring information can be a contribution to the methods of learning. This research’s results can also lead to further studies involving handouts in the future. What if it is not about the kind of handout? What if maybe it is the color of the paper? So many other questions to be asked. This research would just serve as a start. Once results show which is more effective, then, we can experiment with other different things about handouts to even more improve this method of learning.

Scope and Limitations

Scope: What this study intends to accomplish is to find out whether fill-in-the-blank handouts or a plain text handout will be most effective and find a significant difference in the test scores of the participants according to a test, which will be given after the lecture.

Limitations: The researchers will limit the study inside Silliman University, the researchers will also limit the 30 subjects of the study to freshmen students of the said university, and they must not have taken psych11, which is a course of introduction to psychology. The reason for limiting the subjects to freshmen students is the fact that in the research by Liz Freedman, Butler University, an estimated 20 to 50 percent of students enter college as “undecided” – This would affect their attention in regards with listening to the class discussion. By giving out the two different hand outs, it will determine which of the two hand outs will help them be more attentive in class so as to get better results during examination.

Chapter II: Research Methodology

A study on the forms of hand out precisely: a fill-in-the-black and dense-text hand out, aims to find out its difference of test results after a given lecture. This study will be using a selected design and sampling method in order to identify the target participants of the study. By being able to get potential participants through the methods, this will minimize the cost of material handlings and maximize the utilization of available equipment of the researchers. This section will also explain the process and procedures in getting the results of the research.

Sampling Plan

To distinguish between the populations for which the results are ideally required, the desired target population will be selected using the Stratified Random Sampling. The researchers will identify classes with 1st year College students of Silliman University who have not taken Psych 11 (General Psychology). The researchers will then randomly divide the participants in (2) two exclusive sets. This design is known as the Between-Subjects Experimental design wherein Group A will be labeled as the treatment group while Group B will be the controlled set. The researchers will be giving Parent’s consent to minor participants to be signed by their guardian/parents in order to ensure their participation in the experiment.
Research Instruments and Materials

The researchers will be using an actual room in Silliman University. The researchers will set the schedule of the treatment group (Group A) on the same day, so that the lecture that will be given to both groups, location, time, and other factors will be exactly the same, just the handouts will be the different factor during the study. The experiment will take place in the same room, with the same lecturer, lecture materials and procedure that are to be used for the two groups. The compensation given by the researchers to the participants are in terms of snacks, to be given after everyone have answered the test papers provided after the lecture.

Data Collection Procedure

Before the researchers select the participants and conduct the study inside the walls of Silliman University, they will be asking permission to the dean of the chosen college, the subject teacher and most importantly the potential participants’ parents. The researchers will be providing each of the participants a parents’ consent to be signed before starting the experiment. After collecting the parents’ consent and after identifying who are and are no’t allowed in the experiment, the process of gathering data will then follow. The flow of the experiment will begin with an introduction of the lecturer, followed by the distribution of pencils and either the fill-in-the blank handouts or the dense text ones, and will then proceed to the lesson accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation. The lecture will take for about 30-40 minutes. According to Healy (1991), an average student can keep only their attention span for 15 minutes, at most. Standing by this idea, it has been decided that the participants will be given 15 minutes to review their handouts. If given more than 15 minutes, they could potentially lose interest, and if given too little time, there might not be anytime to clarify any questions from the students. Additionally, “The Do’s and Don’t’s of Effective Lecture” in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Teaching Center, listeners should be given an opportunity to review and apply what they are learning. This would enable the students to internalize what has been discussed by the lecturer. Once the time has reached to 15 minutes, the researchers will then continue the experiment by giving the test which will determine the effect of the given hand out. The scores the participants will get on the tests will serve as the mode of measurement for our results. The same procedure will be applied to Group B as well. After the researchers have gathered all the data that they will need, they will interpret the data using the T-test for two independent samples.

Treatment of Data

For the treatment of data in this experiment, the t-test is most appropriate to used out of all statistical procedures for it is to compare the results between the two independent samples. There will be a pool of 30 freshmen college student, randomly dividing them into two groups, namely groups 1 and 2, which is N1= 15 and N2 = 15, with the margin of error 0.05.

|Group 1 |Group 2 |
|N1 = 15 |N2 = 15 |
|X1 = |X2 = |
|S1 = |S2 = |

Conclusion

An Experimental Research, between-subjects design using the Stratified Random Sampling method was conducted at Silliman University Ausejo Hall Room 212 last September 29, 2014. The hypothesis of the researchers’ study is that there is a difference of test results between the (2) two types of handout: Dense text and fill-in-the-blank handout. Upon calculating the results, the researchers were able to identify the average of test scores between the treatment and control group after the experiment has been done. In addition, there was a deficiency that the researchers have encountered whereas there was a decrease amount of subjects. As stated in the Methodology section, the researchers’ have asked 30 freshmen students who have not taken Psych 11 as respondents of the study, but have not been made possible due to shortcomings explained by the suppose-participants. Under those circumstances, the researchers were still able to continue the experiment by reducing the ratio of the subjects. It resulted to no significant effects on either handout given to the subjects. Furthermore, this study will enable the researchers to identify the hand out that would help benefit the readers whereas teaching them how a type of hand out could increase memory.

Recommendations

The results presented that there are no significant effect of test results when provided a dense-text or fill-in-the-blank hand out during a lecture. But according to the results, subjects who were exposed with the plain-text handout got higher test scores than of subjects with fill-in-the-blank handouts. By this, teachers should use handouts that are well written and complete so as to sharpen students’ memory so they will have good results during quizzes and exams. Teachers and lecturers who provides care for students and listeners should be responsible in giving out hand outs that would help them participate in lectures as well as prepare for upcoming tests. This can be added in the teachers’ curriculum for guiding the students to develop their ability in self-care practices. This study can be a guideline for developing a future experimental study, which aimed to improve the memory of students.

-----------------------
Test Results

The Effects of the Nature/Kind of Handout

(Fill-in-the-blank and Dense Text Handout)

-----------------------
5