VOLUME XI, NUMBER 10

#8 INNOVATION ABSTRACTS

PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT Al

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A Scrapbook of Relevance

Motivating Adult Basic Education (ABE) students to
read on a regular basis and to develop skill in reading
are constant challenges for instructors interested in the
promotion of functional literacy. One key to positive
motivation is the selection of instructional materials
written at appropriate reading levels, with sufficient
interest to hold student attention and special relevance
to issues and challenges that students face daily.

Alberta Vocational Centre implemented a ten-weck
program in which relevance of subject matter for
writing and reading would be given highest priority. It
was designed to motivate students to read, to develop
vocabulary and word attack skills, and to increase
gencral knowledge.

The program followed the model of Individual
Program Prescription (IPP), used successfully in special
education and gifted programs. Students were assigned
the task of selecting and developing a topic in which
they would become expert. Each week the students
gathered two or three pieces of information on their
topic. They shared this information with the class,
thereby increasing everyone’s general knowledge.
Ultimately, the goal was for each student to produce a
scrapbook as a finished product.

Initially, the instructor helped students select a topic:
(1) they were cautioned against choosing topics that
were too broad or too narrow; (2) they were coached
about information sources and information types; (3)
they were provided with an orientation to the library;
(4) they were encouraged to consider using specifically-
named community resources—e.g., various government
departments, newspaper morgues, police departments,
and even travel agencies; and (5) they were encouraged
to be creative and divergent in their thinking. Xeroxing
an article from an encyclopedia, taking clippings from
magazines and newspapers, paraphrasing longer
technical tracts, and writing drafts of structured inter-
views were all considered fair game. The objective was
to gather information that could be organized and
illustrated in scrapbook form.

Students were encouraged to collect information
during the first three weeks of the program. Once an

Cc adequate amount of material had been collected,

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students were instructed on appropriate organizing
principles that they might use to structure their proj-
ects—e.g., chronological (historical), cause (effect), least
to most, and general to specific. At this time students
also were advised of the criteria that would be used to
evaluate their projects—e.g., quantity of material,
organization, and overall appearance.

Students researched a wide range of topics: AIDS,
impaired drivers, Nepal, child abuse, the National
Hockey League, motor vehicle accidents, tornadoes,
parent-finding, clothes design, phenomena in space,
history of Hong Kong, Rottweiler dogs, and native
cultural ceremonies.

They used a broad range of research skills to com-
plete their projects. One student discovered that the
City of Edmonton had a Rottweiler on the dog squad.
Asa result of her inquiry and expression of interest, she
was interviewed and photographed; these records of
her work were significant additions to her scrapbook.
Another student used the word processor to assemble
the history of the National Hockey League, including
team composition on a year-by-year basis. Still another
student conducted structured interviews with adults
who had been sexually abused as children. (Some of
these adults had volunteered their stories after the
school grapevine had indicated that she was working
on the topic.) One student researched the topic of
“impaired driving.” Having lost members of her family
in a motor vehicle accident caused by an impaired
driver, she was initially intolerant of the drivers.
However, her project exposed her to information about
alcohol and Alcoholics Anonymous; she came to
understand that the issue was complex, involving
preventative treatment and education.

Students reported that they were sharing information
(networking), meeting new people, and talking about
new issues and topics over coffee.

Relevance is a critical issue in Adult Basic Education.
It is prudent for us to listen and respond to the custom-
ers of our service—the students in our classrooms.

William Green, Research Officer
For further information, contact the author at Alberta

Vocational Centre, Room 224, 10215 - 108 Street, Ed-
monton, Alberta T5J 1L6, CANADA.

 

 

EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)
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