Process And Product Variables For The Study Of Reading In Secondary Agriscience

Abstract

Secondary agriscience, along with all education, is facing pressure to document and contribute to student achievement in math, science, and reading. Agriscience teachers often expect their students to enter the classroom with adequate skills for reading and comprehension, yet the vocabulary, concepts, and structure of secondary agriscience is foreign to many students. Agriscience teachers may be able to enhance students' reading performance through implementation of reading strategies in secondary agriscience. While similarities exist between reading in other content areas and secondary agriscience, differences exist in the products of reading in agriculture. This study reviews research related to content area reading to develop research questions and a model for studying reading in secondary agriscience. Building on Dunkin and Biddle's (1974) model of the study of teaching, this research proposes areas of inquiry regarding process and product variables associated with reading. Research in process variables includes setting purpose, strategy instruction, use of strategies, monitoring reading, discussion, and question generation. Research in product variables includes comprehension, agricultural literacy, motivation to read, creating lifelong readers, critical thinking, and communication of ideas.