The Effects of Teaching Using Interdisciplinary Integration and Traditional Strategies on Student Performance in a 7th Grade English Class

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of teaching using interdisciplinary integration and traditional strategies on student performance in a seventh grade English class. The sample consisted of two intact seventh grade classes (7A and 7B) at a Northeast Tennessee private school. One class served as the experimental group and consisted of 19 students while the other class served as the control group and consisted of 17 students. Both groups were given pretests to determine basic vocabulary skill, and then exposed to 5 short daily vocabulary lessons. The experimental group's lessons were augmented by the inclusion of content from the students' Geography class. Data were analyzed using ANCOVA to covary out the pretest. The results indicated no significant different between interdisciplinary integration strategies and traditional teaching methods (F(1,28)=.230, p>.05). Similarly, no significant difference was found between genders when taught using interdisciplinary integration (F(1,26)=.522, p>.05).