AN EXPERIMENT TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF THE EARLY INTRODUCTION OF NEW-MATTER DICTATION IN THE TEACHING OF BEGINNING SHORTHAND TO COLLEGE STUDENTS Thesis for the Degree of Ph. D. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY Margaret Ann Mc Kenna 1966 £(‘m ‘A LIBRARY Michigan Stave University THESIS This is to certify that the thesis entitled AN EXPERIMENT TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT or THE EARLY INTRODUCTION or NEW-MATTER DICTATION IN THE TEACHING or BEGINNING SHORIHAND ; T0 COLLEGE STUDENTS presented by Margaret Ann McKenna has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for __Bh_-Q-__ degree in 131111081423 ’/ ..// ’ ‘ 7 / 7 1/9. . //. /./ / ‘ ’T /“ L‘. 1/ ._/_‘ / ./ L“ .1 r, '— 7 / v.1 -, .,r"j a ' Wk)? Major professor Date July 25L 1966 O-l69 F803 1': LLY ABSTRACT AN EXPERIMENT TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF THE EARLY INTRODUCTION OF NEW-MATTER DICTATION IN THE TEACHING OF BEGINNING SHORTHAND TO COLLEGE STUDENTS by Margaret Ann McKenna Purpose of the Study The purposes of this study were (1) to determine the effect of the early introduction of new—matter dictation on the performance of a group of beginning shorthand students, (2) to prepare new-matter dictation for each lesson con- taining words that the students had not actually written but should have been able to write from the principles al- ready studied, and (3) to determine the predictive value of the Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery for achievement in beginning shorthand. Procedures The sample for the study consisted of 33 Michigan State University students enrolled in two sections of Be- ginning Shorthand I and Beginning Shorthand II. Section one was taught by a language—arts approach with no writing until the students had completed three chap— ters of the textbook, automatization of responses without Margaret Ann McKenna knowledge that there are rules governing the construction of shorthand outlines, and no new-matter dictation until the completion of all shorthand theory. Section two was taught by a science—type approach with students writing after the completion of the first chapter in the textbook, rules for outline construction presented after the students are familiar with the alphabet and Joinings, and new-matter dictation beginning in the eighth class period. Scores from two theory tests and a series of dictated letters at speeds of 60, 80, and 100 words a minute were used to compare the two sections. The statistical proce- dures used were analysis of variance and correlation anal~ ysis. Findings 1. There was no statistically significant difference between the achievement of the two groups on the dictation tests or on the two theory tests. 2. Transcription achievement as measured by the dictation tests correlated with knowledge of theory as measured by the word tests in each section and in the two sections combined. 3. The following simple correlation coefficients were statistically significantly different from zero: Sec- tion one: English, .5203; Section two: Verbal, .6171; Informational, .6400; CQT-Total, .6924; English, .6935; Margaret Ann McKenna Sections one and two: Verbal, .3889; Informational, .4423; CQT-Total, .4431; English, .6103; Reading, .3450. 4. The five subtests of the Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery when considered simultaneously pro— duced the following multiple correlation coefficients: Sec— tion one: .64; Section: .84; Sections one and two: .63. Only the correlation of section two was significantly dif- ferent from zero. Conclusions The following conclusions were drawn from an analysis of the findings of the study: 1. That the early introduction of new-matter dicta- tion did not result in an increase nor did it retard stu- dents in the ability to take and transcribe new-matter dictation as measured by the existing departmental stand- ards at Michigan State University. 2. That this study provides no evidence to suggest either postponed benefits or postponed handicaps due to the early introduction of new-matter dictation. 3. That students taught by the functional method did not differ in knowledge of theory as measured by word tests from students taught by a scienCe-type approach. 4. That there is a relationship between transcription achievement as measured by the ability to take dictation ac— curately and knowledge of theory as measured by word tests. Margaret Ann McKenna 6. That this provides no evidence to support the theory that students with verbal facility will do better in a language arts approach and students with quantitative ability will do better in a science-type approach to the learning of shorthand. (o) Copyright by Margaret Ann McKenna 1967 AN EXPERIMENT TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF THE EARLY INTRODUCTION OF NEW—MATTER DICTATION IN THE TEACHING OF BEGINNING SHORTHAND TO COLLEGE STUDENTS By Margaret Ann McKenna A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION 1966 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS With sincere appreciation and gratitude the researcher acknowledges the contribution of those who made this study possible. Dr. Peter G. Haines, Dr. Rollin H. Simonds, and Dr. Ernest O. Melby, members of the Guidance Committee, provided encouragement and advice throughout the program and the re— search project. Dr. Milton B. Dickerson cooperated in making the ins structors, classes, and facilities of the Michigan State University Department of Law, Insurance, and Office Admin- istration available for research purposes. In particular, the researcher is indebted to Dr. Helen H. Green, Guidance Committee Chairman, whose inspira~ tion, counsel, and friendship made this project and the doctoral program a rewarding and enjoyable experience. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION AND STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM . Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Statement of the Problem . Purpose of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . Hypotheses to be Tested‘ . . . . . . . . Importance of the Study . . . . . . . . . Definition of Terms . . . Limitations of the Study Organization of the Study. . . . . . . . . . II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Literature on the Teaching of Shorthand . Functional Versus Manual Method of Teaching Shorthand Shorthand Theory New-matter Dictation . Literature on Prediction of Achievement in Shorthand III. PROCEDURES . . . Selection of the Sample Randomization of Student Choice of Section . Equality of the Two Sections Shorthand Pre—test Description of the Study PAGE L...‘ \OU'IU‘Iwwwi—J 10 ll l3 13 18 29 31 44 44 46 46 49 5o iii CHAPTER PAGE Language-arts Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Science-type Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Preparation of Material . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Teaching Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Teacher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Lesson Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Multiple Channel Tape Laboratory . . . . . . 55 Criterion Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Theory Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Dictation Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Relationship Between Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery Scores and Achievement in Shorthand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 IV. FINDINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Terminal Performance of the Two Sections . . . 63 Results of the Theory , , , , , , , , , , , , 66 Relationship Between Terminal Performance and Theory Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Entrance Test Battery Scores as Predictors of Success in Shorthand . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Analysis of Simple Correlations , , , , , , , 7O Significance of the Correlation Coefficients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Analysis of Multiple Correlation . . . . . . 77 Significance of the Multiple Correlation Coefficients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8O CHAPTER Corrected Multiple Correlations V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS Nature of the Study Need for the Study Delimitations of the Study Hypotheses Tested . . Summary of the Procedures Definition of the Population Equality of the Sections Pre-test Preparation of Material Teaching Procedures Collection of the Data Criterion Tests Predictive Tests Findings Terminal Performance of the Two Sections Reliability of Entrance Tests as Predictors Conclusions Recommendations BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . APPENDIX . 0 iv PAGE 82 85 85 85 85 86 86 86 86 87‘ 87 87 88 88 88 88 88 89 90 94 98 TABLE I. II. III. IV. VI. VII. VIII. IX. XI. XII. LIST OF TABLES Means, Standard Deviations, and F Statistics of Michigan State University Entrance Test Bat— tery Scores for Sections One and Two . . . . . Terminal Performance As Shown By Scores Achieved on Dictation Tests and Second-Term Grades . . Student Scores on Theory Tests . . . . . . . . . Number of Shorthand and Transcription Errors Made by Students in Theory Test Two . . . . . . . Correlation Between Transcription Scores and Theory Test Scores . . . . . . . . . . . Correlation of Michigan State University Test Battery Scores and Achievement in Shorthand . Derivatives of r for Significant Correlations Partial Regression Coefficients for Five Predictor Tests . . . . . . . Multiple Correlations Between Five Predictors and Achievement in Shorthand . . . . . . . . . . Coefficients of Multiple Determination with One Variable Deleted Corrected Multiple Correlations Between Five Predictors and Achievement in Shorthand . . . Multiple Correlations Between Two Predictor Vari- ables and Achievement in Shorthand . . . . . PAGE 48 65 67 68 69 71 76 78 79 81 84 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION AND STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM I. INTRODUCTION Increasing emphasis on academic subjects and increas— ing demand for trained stenographic and clerical employees have made it imperative for teachers of secretarial skills to search for ways to teach their courses more efficiently. All too often in shorthand, teaching materials and proce- dures have been based on opinion rather than on sound re— search. Attention needs to be given to the behavior of learners at each successive level of skill and the impli- cations of such behavior for instructional materials and procedures. There are two radically different approaches to the teaching and learning of shorthand: (l) the language arts approach and (2) the science—type approach. The language arts approach is essentially an imita- tive method, with an objective of rapid and accurate use Of unverbalized generalizations. It is based, according to Leslie, ”on‘the concept that the student should not be required to write any shorthand outline until he is thor- oughly prepared to write it correctly."1 The learner never 1Louis A. Leslie, The Teaching of Gregg Shorthand by the Functional Method (New York: The Gregg Publishing Com- pany, 1935), p. 13. puts into words the rules, principles, or generalizations governing the skill. He is taught to automatize the cor- rect shorthand response without ever knowing that there are any rules for writing shorthand outlines. Science-type teaching, at some point in the learning process, gives the learner verbalized rules or principles or generalizations by which the shorthand outlines are con- structed. Emphasis is given to the application of short- hand principles in the writing of shorthand not to the learning of rules for writing. Probably few teachers today teach at either end of the continuum of language arts or science-type teaching. There are many variations in the procedures of both types of teaching as applied to shorthand and many teaching pro- cedures that are equally effective with either type of teaching, although the objectives of the teacher may cause variations in the exact way in which the procedure will be used. In the functional method of teaching shorthand (a' language arts approach), new-matter dictation is not in- troduced until all shorthand theory has been presented. The reasoning behind this method of teaching is that the learner, from dictation of practiced material at higher and higher speeds and from writing large amounts of con— nected material, is constantly building a larger vocabu- lary and automatizing the use of that vocabulary. He is learning to write outlines more and more rapidly. When he does begin new-matter dictation, it is claimed that this dictation will present fewer difficulties and will be less likely to cause fears and tension. According to Leslie, developer of the functional method, the ability to construct an outline instantly for any word that may occur is obtained only by prac— ticing outlines for thousands of different words in order to obtain the greatest possible famili— arity with all the sound and symbol combinations of the English language.2 It takes only a few ”new” words in any dictation, however, to cause the student to ”lose” the dictation. It would seem, therefore, that a major objective of the train— ing in shorthand should be to reduce the number of words that will be ”new” by utilizing the principle of construct— ing outlines right from the beginning. There is no way to insure that all the words the employed stenographer could ever be asked to write can be included in the training. It is possible, however, to furnish many practice situations in which the words must be constructed during the press of dictation. To do this, a few ”new” words could be included in some of the dictation material quite early in the train- ing and continuously thereafter (a science-type approach). II. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Purposes of the Study The major purpose of this study was to compare two methods of teaching shorthand to determine the effects on 2Louis A. Leslie, Methods of Teaching Gregg Short- hand (New York: McGraw—Hill Book Company, 1953), p. 342. the performance of a group of beginning shorthand students. In one class, new—matter dictation was introduced after ap- proximately two weeks of shorthand instruction and was con- tinued through the twenty—week period of the study. The other class was taught by the language arts method in which new—matter dictation was deferred until all shorthand theory had been introduced, which was after ten weeks of instruc~ tion. A secondary purpose of the study was to prepare new- matter dictation material for each lesson based on the shorthand principles known by the students and containing words that the student had not actually written but should have been able to write from the principles already studied. To contribute to the available data on shorthand prog- nosis and to determine, if possible, predictors of success in beginning shorthand at Michigan State University, a por- tion of the study conducted by Coleman in 1964 was repli- cated and the correlations between student scores on sub- tests of the Michigan State University Entrance Test Bat— tery and subsequent performance in beginning shorthand were analyzed statistically. The scores of the sub-tests on the Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery were also analyzed to determine if a relationship exists between ap~ titudes as indicated by these scores and success or failure in shorthand when taught by a language-arts or science- type approach. Hypotheses to be Tested The objectives of this study were to determine (1) whether students taking new—matter dictation early in their training would achieve greater skill in taking dictation and transcribing at the end of twenty weeks of instruction than students who were taught by the language arts method in which no new—matter dictation was introduced during the period when theory was being learned and (2) whether sub— tests of the Michigan State University Entrance Test Bat- tery can be used as predictors of possible success in be- ginning shorthand. The following null hypotheses were tested: 1. There is no difference at the end of two terms of instruction in the achievement of beginning shorthand stu- dents taking new-matter dictation from the beginning of the third week of the first term and that of students who have had only practiced material for dictation until after all theory has been presented. 2. There is no relationship between student scores on the Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery and subsequent performance in beginning shorthand. Importance of the Study Much of what has been written about teaching methods in Gregg shorthand is the work of Louis Leslie, a co-author of the Simplified and Diamond Jubilee editions of Gregg shorthand and the developer of functional method of teach- ing beginning shorthand. U1 According to Leslie, the ability to construct rapidly a legible shorthand outline is the most important single objective of shorthand learning for prospective stenograph- ers. Such students need not be concerned with theoretical accuracy.3 Some recent research, however, is in conflict with this belief. Fermenick, in a study concerning the relationships between a knowledge of shorthand principles and errors in transcription, found that a significant re- lationship existed between accuracy in shorthand principles and accuracy in transcription as well as between inaccuracy in-Shorthand principles and inaccuracy in transcription.Ll Danielson, in a study of the relationships between competency in shorthand vocabulary and shorthand dictation, found a significant relationship between competency in shorthand vocabulary and dictation achievement.5 Leslie's functional method of teaching shorthand is an application of language-art teaching in which the acquirement of shorthand skill is divided into four main stages: (1) reading shorthand, (2) copying shorthand, (3) writing shorthand from dictation with a preview, and 31bid., p. 121. “William F. Fermenick, "An Analysis of the Relation— ship between Application of Some Principles of Gregg Short— hand Simplified and Errors in Transcription" (unpublished Master's thesis, Mankato State College, 1959). Cited by Ruth Anderson, Secretarial Education with a Future, Ameri- can Business Education Associafion Yearbook, 1962, p. 59. 5Harriet Ann Danielson, "The Relationship Between Com- petency in Shorthand Vocabulary and Achievement in Dicta— tion"'(unpublished Doctoral thesis, Indiana University, 1959). (4) writing shorthand from dictation without a preview.6 This last stage is not attempted until after the presenta- tion of all theory and the completion of the manual. According to Leslie, a learner who is compelled to write new—matter dictation too soon develops a fear of dic~ tation because he has difficulty with it. Because of his inability to supply outlines readily, he may develop a hes- itating style of writing. Leslie also states that the functional writer writes fluently and unhesitatingly because he is not asked to con- struct outlines until ”his mind is well stocked with out— lines and parts of outlines ready to be assembled into fine ished outlines."7 Leonard West disagrees with Leslie on the subject of new-matter dictation. In a psychological analysis of the acquisition of stenographic skill, West describes short- hand activities as writing shorthand as responses to stimuli consisting of sounds in the ears. In the beginning the stu~ dent sounds out the component parts of each word as he writes the component strokes. The intervening mediating behaviors in the form of verbal self—direction are both the learner's response to the overt stimulus (hearing the word) and the stimulus for making the overt (writing) response. 6Leslie, Methods of Teaching Gregg Shorthand, pp. 84-85. 71bid., p. 123. Nothing in the learner's past experience enables him to write shorthand as response to language stimuli; and so he makes to those stimuli the previously learned response of spelling or vocalizing, usually silently. As shorthand skill is acquired, certain mediators are eliminated and others developed. At first, vocalization of the element to be written serves as a mediating stimulus; next the sen- sations of motion generated by the writing of stroke one serve as stimuli for the writing of stroke two. Little chains are built up and grow progressively longer as skill develops. These two stages (vocal mediators and kines- thetic mediators) are not distinct in time. When heavily practiced outlines are being written on the basis of kin- esthesis, new words are still being spelled out. With more and longer kinesthetically stimulated response chains the defining characteristic of higher levels of dictation, the number of outlines that can be written in chained fash- ion should be maximized. To accomplish this, a large vocab- ulary must be included in the training materials and prac~ tice situations must be furnished in which new words are constructed during the press of dictation.8 The present study compared these two theories regard- ing the teaching of shorthand in an effort to determine whether instructional materials and procedures affect achievement in beginning shorthand. 8Leonard J. West, ”The Acquisition of Stenographic Skill: A Psychological Analysis,” Business Education Forum, October, 1963, pp. 7-8. Prognosis has been an area of considerable interest in shorthand research. To date, however, prediction as to success in shorthand cannot be made with accuracy. Re- searchers agree that a battery of skills including general scholastic average, grades in English, and intelligence test scores show greater promise than the use of any single test yet devised. According to Anderson, a number of investigators found English marks, scholastic achievement and foreign language marks among the best measures to predict success or failure in shorthand.9 This study compared achievement in shorthand as measured by the ability to take dictation and transcribe it accurately with scores on the Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery. It is hoped that norms might be es- tablished whereby these test scores, or some combination of them, could be used to predict success or failure in short~ hand at Michigan State University. Definition of Terms The following terms are defined according to the way they are used in this study. Beginning shorthand. A course designed to teach the theory of Gregg shorthand and to develop the ability to 9Ruth Anderson, ”An Analysis and Classification of Research in Shorthand and Transcription” (unpublished Doctoral thesis, Indiana University, 1946), pp. 737-738. lO transcribe from dictated material at appropriate speeds. In this study beginning shorthand was taught in two ten- week terms, Beginning Shorthand I and Beginning Shorthand II. Shorthagd theory. The principles of writing Gregg shorthand. . New—matter dictation. Dictation of material that has not been practiced or previewed and that contains at least a few words that the learner may never have written before but that are based on the principles of writing already studied. Preview. Presentation of selected outlines from the material to be dictated prior to the dictation. Postview. Review of selected outlines from the dic— tated material after it has been dictated. Gregg Shorthand, Diamond Jubilee Series. The 1963 edition of Gregg shorthand. Limitations of the Study Achieving adequate control of all the variables is ex— tremely difficult in educational studies and in this study variables might exist that are uncontrolled. Such vari— ables as the subject's age, race, other classes being taken, study habits, motivation, and attendance were not analyzed as this information was considered beyond the scope of the study. 11 The sample size for the study was relatively small-- 15 in section one and 18 in section two. It was felt, how- ever, that this sample was not too small to draw meaning- ful conclusions regarding college students studying short- hand.10 Students enrolled in a college course in shorthand may be a more select group than high school students of shorthand or those enrolled in post high school business schools. The results of the study may be applicable, how- ever, to teaching methods in other groups. This is true since classes in high school and college generally meet for approximately the same number of hours, the students may be of approximately the same maturity (high school seniors and college freshmen, for example), the teaching materials are similar, and the content of the course is essentially the same. Differences, however, may exist in student motivation, study habits, and willingness to co- operate. III. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY Chapter I has presented the purpose and importance of the study. Chapter II contains a review of the lit- erature related to the study. Chapter III outlines the 10The total enrollment in the course was 71~-35 in section one and 36 in section two. procedures followed by the researcher. Findings and the researcher's interpretation of the findings are included in Chapter IV while Chapter V contains the summary, con- clusions, and recommendations. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE This chapter reviews the literature related to the study. It is divided into two parts: (1) methods of teaching beginning shorthand and (2) prediction of achieve- ment in shorthand. The section on methods of teaching is concerned with (1) the functional versus manual methods of teaching shorthand, (2) the teaching of shorthand theory, and (3) the introduction of new-matter dictation. I. LITERATURE ON THE TEACHING OF SHORTHAND Early investigators showed great interest in study- ing shorthand teaching methods. During the 1950's, how— ever, much less attention was given to this aspect of shorthand and transcription. In recent years attention has again been given to research on teaching methods in shorthand, and some controversy still exists in the cur- rent literature over which approach to teaching beginning shorthand produces superior results. Functional Versus Manual Method of Teaching Shorthand Prior to the introduction of Gregg Simplified Short_ hand in 1949, a number of studies were conducted to de- termine the superiority of the functional or manual 14 methods of teaching shorthand. According to Frink,1 however, there is no evidence to show conclusively the superiority of either method as the findings of the dif— ferent studies were in favor of one and then another. The majority of teachers appear to be using a combination of the two methods. Among the early studies were those of Regan, Balluff, and Belanger. In Regan's2 study, an examination was made of the objectives, materials, activities, and results of the functional method of teaching Gregg shorthand in the light of educational psychology and modern teaching prac- tices. Thirty—one teachers who had been using the func- tional method of teaching shorthand for only one semester reported in a questionnaire that in most cases pupils taught by the functional method were superior in short- hand penmanship to pupils taught by other methods. The teachers stated that pupils using the functional method attained a higher speed of writing in a shorter time, could read their own shorthand notes more readily, and were more interested in the course that pupils using other methods. lInez Frink, ”A Comprehensive Analysis and Synthesis of Research and Thought Pertaining to Shorthand and Tran- scription” (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University, 1961), pp, 141-142. 2Teresa A. Regan, ”Psychological and Pedagogical Basis of the Functional Method of Teaching Gregg Short- hand” (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Boston College, 1937). 15 In 1938, Adelaide Balluff3 made an analysis of the functional method of teaching shorthand to determine whether (1) desirable teaching procedures are followed, (2) students learn shorthand more easily by this method, (3) teachers consider this method superior to the manual method. Questionnaires were sent to teachers of func- tional method asking them to list the advantages and dis- advantages they had experienced with the functional method. A list of 45 advantages and 30 disadvantages were compiled and sent to high school teachers. They were asked to in— dicate whether each item was considered of major or minor importance. The conclusions of the study were based on the teacher's opinions. Lillian BelangerlI made a study to compare the functional and manual methods of teaching shorthand in order to determine which method was better suited for the pupils of the East Boston (Mass.) High School and to determine to what degree those entering the Stenography 11 class retained their skill acquired in Stenography I. 3Adelaide Balluff, ”An Analysis of the Functional Method of Teaching Shorthand” (unpublished Master's the~ sis, State University of Iowa, 1938). ”Lillian A. Belanger, ”A Comparison of the Manual and Functional Methods of Teaching Shorthand" (unpub~ lished Master's thesis, Tufts College, 1944). Two classes of shorthand, taught by different teachers, were selected for the study of shorthand methods. Each class had 32 pupils with I.Q.'s averaging 100, simi- lar backgrounds, the same length of time for instruction, and the same environmental conditions. An attempt was also made to attain teacher equality. The two groups were taught together for Stenography II. Various types of tests were administered, including brief form, written transcription, theory, dictation. The following findings were reported: 1. A comparison of the results achieved between the two classes on the monthly brief form tests showed that, according to the median scores for the nine months, the group using the manual method was superior to the group using the functional method in the writing of cor- rect shorthand forms from dictation. 2. An analysis of the transcription of word lists revealed that the group using the functional method had more nearly perfect scores than the group using the manual method in eight of the nine months. 3. On the transcription tests, the average number of words transcribed per minute by the class using the manual method ranged from 3 to 28 words a minute and for the class using the functional method, from 8 to 35 words a minute. The differences between the two groups in aver- age words a minute transcribed ranged from 5 to 15 words a minute. On the last transcription test the pupils taught by the manual method transcribed at the rate of 28 words a minute and the pupils taught by the functional method, at 35 words a minute. 4. On the first theory test, the median score for the pupils using the functional method was one point above that of the pupils using the manual method. On the second test, the group using the functional method showed the greater improvement in average scores. The author concluded that the class using the functional method in which rules were not learned except through reading and writing made a better showing on theory than the class using the manual method in which rules were learned. On the theory test given to the Stenography II pupils in the fall of 1943, the median for the 17 pupils that had been in the group taught by the manual method in first-year shorthand was 75; the median for the pupils who had been taught by the functional method was 60. 5. On the first letter test dictated at 80 words a minute, the median score for the class using the manual method was 97; for the class using the functional method, 98. Scores on the test indicated that both groups could take dictation at 80 words a minute and transcribe with a high degree of accuracy. 6. On the five-minute test dictated at 60 words a minute, the error average for the class using the func~ tional method was 12.43; for the class using the manual method, l8.0. According to the 95 per cent accuracy 18 standards set by the Gregg Publishing Company for the test, 72.4 per cent of the pupils taught by the functional method compared to 66.8 per cent of the pupils taught by the man- ual method passed the test. The author concluded that pu- pils using the functional method reached a higher level of achievement than pupils using the manual method. The conclusions of the author of the study were that in the beginning shorthand course better results were se- cured with the functional method than with the manual meth— od. However, in the advanced shorthand class, the theory test showed that the group taught by the manual method retained more of the theory during the summer vacation than the group taught by the functional method. Shorthand Theory According to Frink,5 many teachers and business ed~ ucators believe that greater emphasis should be given to the teaching of shorthand theory. Frink cites numerous articles in professional literature in which ”the need for greater emphasis on theory is implied by the state— ment that poor transcripts are probably the result of poorly written or inaccurate outlines."6 In an article on the fallacies in shorthand teach; ing methods, Parker Liles states that 5Frink, op. cit., p. 149. 6Ibid., p, 150. 19 Some teachers feel that it makes little difference whether the student is highly proficient in knowlw edge of shorthand theory or not. It has even been said that any shorthand outline which can be tran- scribed correctly is a correct outline.7 Liles feels that the implications of such a state~ ment lead some teachers to feel that it isn't necessary to require students to master the shorthand system and says that Those who fall into the trap of concluding that knowledge and testing for mastery of knowledge are unessential make the mistake of beginning at the wrong end of the process and working backward. They contend that the ultimate objective in shorts hand instruction, and rightly so, is the mailable transcript; therefore shorthand is a means to an end and whether or not it is correct or incorrect shorthand is of no consequence. It should be re_ membered that correct shorthand will probably con~ tribute more than any other one thing to the ulti~ mate objective-—the mailable transcript. Much of such criticism is directed against Louis Leslie, co—author of the Simplified and Diamond Jubilee editions of Gregg shorthand. This criticism may be based on an incorrect interpretation of Leslie's views. It is true that Leslie says, The learner who shows the most favorable symptoms of learning is the one who can take dictation at the highest speed and who can read back or tran~ scribe the notes most rapidly and accurately, re— gardless of the theoretical accuracy of the short~ hand outlines or the perfgction and refinement of the shorthand penmanship. 7Parker Liles, ”Issues in Teaching Shorthand,” The Balance Sheet, XLV (October, 1963), p. 52. 81bid., p. 53 9Louis A. Leslie, Methods of Teaching Gregg Short~ hand, p. 79. 1U C) But, he goes on to say, The stenographer needs a 100 per cent knowledge of the shorthand alphabet, perhaps an 80 per cent knowledge of the brief forms, perhaps a 60 per cent knowledge of the other abbreviating devices of the shorthand system, and no measurable percent_ age of accuracy or consistency in the application of the niceties or intricacies of shorthand outline construction. Most of the theory ”errors” that annoy teachers, and that cause teachers to annoy learners, come under the last heading.lO Leslie cites examples, such as the inclusion of the vowel "u" in the word "jump," the inconsistency of a stu- dent in one place writing "cousin” with a vowel before the "n" and in another writing "dozen" without the vowel. He contends that in cases such as these the exact outline used is far less important than the ability to write with~ out hesitation a reasonable, readable, transcribable out- line. Some recent studies by Danielson, Patrick, and Palmer provide evidence concerning the relationship be- tween accurate outlines and accurate transcription. Danielson studied the relationship between compe~ tency in shorthand vocabulary and achievement in short- hand dictation. The problem involved two main factors~~ working knowledge of shorthand vocabulary and the attain— ment of dictation ability. 10Ibid., p. 81. According to Danielson, Competency in shorthand vocabulary involves the ability to identify mentally the various sounds within a word dictated in a word list and to con- vert these sounds into the written shorthand out« line. It also involves the ability to translate in longhand these shorthand outlines into the English language, giving all possible translations for each outline.ll The essential findings relating to shorthand vocab~ ulary and ability to take dictation resulting from this study were: 1. Shorthand vocabulary competency was found to be significantly related to shorthand dictation achievement but not to be the sole factor influencing dictation achievement. 2. As a student's shorthand vocabulary index in- creased, his rate of taking dictation was increased. 3. General scholastic ability, as measured by sew lected indices used in this study, was found to be only remotely related to ability in shorthand vocabulary, From this study, Danielson made the following gen» eral conclusions: 1. The objective of shorthand instruction is the development of shorthand dictation at accept~ able rates and the ability to produce a high-quality transcript in a reasonable time. Based upon the findings pertaining to Shorthand vocabulary and shorthand dictation rate, it may be concluded that during the learning period continuous growth in shorthand vocabulary is a factor of prime impor- tance in the development of acceptable shorthand dictation rates. llDanielson, op, cit,, p. 5. r x) m 2. The lack of influence of general scholastic ability on competency in shorthand vocabulary leads to the observation, if not to a defensible conclu— sion, that apparently mastery of shorthand vocab- ulary requires abilities and capacities consider_ ably different from those required for mastery of general academic subject areas. Failure of students of high-level general scholastic ability to achieve well in shorthand may in part be due to the absence of the abilities peculiar to mastery of shorthand vocabulary. 3. In general, achievement in shorthand dictation is directly proportionate to general scholastic abil- ity. In practice, this means that the chance of at— taining high dictation rates for students of below average scholastic ability is relatively small. 4. The evidence revealed in this Study indicates that: a. shorthand vocabulary competency signif- icantly influences achievement in short- hand dictation at all speed levels b. general scholastic ability also signif~ icantly influences shorthand dictation achievement at all speed levels, but c. shorthand vocabulary competency and general scholastic ability bgar little relationship to each other.l The purpose of Patrick’sl3 study was to determine on the basis of error rates in writing whether the changes that were made in the Diamond Jubilee Series for selected brief forms and principles were justified and whether there is a need for further changes. lerid., p. 119. l3Alfred Patrick, ”An Error Analysis of Selected Brief Forms and Principles in Shorthand Notes of beginning Students” (unpublished Master‘s thesis, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 1965). Sub~problems in the study were to determine (l) the adequacy, from the standpoint of frequency of occurrence of the selected brief forms and principles of the first textbooks (Functional and Manual) and of 15 lessons of the second textbook of the high school Diamond Jubilee Series, (2) whether there are patterns of errors in writ- ing brief form outlines and outlines constructed according to principles, and (3) how error rates found in Patrick s study compared with error rates found in a concurrent study by Frye who studied high school students studying Gregg Shorthand Simplified. Patrick’s study is reported in rather full detail here because many people are interested in the comparison between writing Diamond Jubilee and Simplified shorthand. This is not to be interpreted as evidence that all the findings were considered to be of great significance. The population for the study consisted of first- year high school students in five southeastern states who were studying Diamond Jubilee material. The findings of the study were based on statistical analysis of the errors made in six specially constructed letters of approximately 150 words each dictated to the students and transcribed by them. Each brief form and each principle being studied occurred three times in the dictation material. |\_) 1:- Among the findings reported were: 1. The most significant patterns of errors for brief forms were the following: The outline a-m—o—ng was written for 41.0 per cent of the errors on among. The outline s-e~rwk was writ_ ten for 35.4 per cent of the errors on circle. The outline p:t_was written for 88.8 per cent of the errors on put. The outline r~e-keneies was written for 32.1 per cent of the errors on recognize. The outline ithwr—ow was written for 19.8 per cent of the errors on throughout. The outline o-p-n was written for 58.9 per cent of the errors on upon. The outline g;§ was written for 36.3 per cent of the errors on doctor. The outline e-oo-l was written for 19.8 per cent of the errors on usual. The very significant pat- terns for among and upon include an 9_for an_gg sound. 2. The most significant patterns of errors for principles were the following: The strokes p:£_were written for 52.4 per cent of the errors on p39. The strokes 9:1 or d:£ were written for 51.5 per cent of the errors on def, dev, div. The strokes ith—r were written for 40.4 per cent of the errors on ther. The strokes j~e~nt were written for 16.6 per cent of the errors on gent. The strokes e-r-m and e~r—n were written for"4§.3 per cent of the errors on 33m, 333. Patrick made the following conclusions: 1. A highly significant positive relationship exists between accuracy of outlines and accuracy of transcription for both brief forms and prin- ciples. 2. A significant negative relationship exists between the frequency of occurrence of brief forms in the textbooks and the shorthand error rate on brief forms. 3. The relationship between frequency of occur- rence of principles in the textbooks and the error rate on principles is not significant, 4. Oh the basis of error rates and patterns of errors, the following brief forms should be re- vised to be written as shown: circle, s-e-rek; put, p-t; recognize, r—e~k~n~i~s; throughout, ith-r-ow; doctor, d~r3 and usual, e-oo~l. l\) \H 5. On the basis of error rates and patterns of errors, the following principles should be revised to be written as shown: def, dev, div, g;x_or d-f; ther, ith-r; gent, j~e-nt; erm, ern, e~r—m or e-r-n; and ppp, p:p. 6. The following Diamond Jubilee brief forms occurred fewer than 15 times in the textbook material analyzed: acknowledge, 1; enclose, l; recognize, 2; progress, 5; throgghout, 5; among, 6; upon, 11; and experience, 14. 7. The following principles occurred fewer than 50 times in the textbook material analyzed: ippl, 6; igy, 9, rity, l9, ification, 24; super, 28; ulate, ulation, 29; electr, 32; cient, tient, 39; pose, position, 42; pend, gent, 49. 8. Changes in the following brief forms and principles apparently influenced higher shorthand error rates: desire, doctop, g9, house, usual, ally, illy, short, ship, pro. 9. Changes in the ify and less_principles ap- parently influenced lower shorthand error rates.“4 The Rose Palmerl5 study (not to be confused with Elise Palmer's16 study) was an investigation to ascertain differences in performance between two groups of short- hand writers (one group of first—year students writing at 80 words a minute and another group of second-year stu— dents writing at 120 words a minute). l“Alfred Patrick, ”An Error Analysis of Selected Brief Forms and Principles in Shorthand Notes of Begin~ ning Students,” National Business Education Quarterly, XXXIV (Spring, 1966), p. 3h. 15Rose Palmer, " _Comparison Between Two Groups of Shorthand Writers” (unpublished Doctor's thesis, New York University, 1964). 16 Elise Douglass Palmer, ”Development and Evaluae tion of Multiple—Channel Dictation Tapes in Beginning Shorthand Classes" (unpublished Doctor's thesis, Univer— sity of Tennessee, 1963). R) O‘\ The study considered three aspects of shorthand writing: 1. The manner in which students wrote unfamiliar words. 2. The way in which students wrote shortcuts for certain words as compared to the way in which they wrote the same words in full. 3. The effect of fatigue on the writing of both groups. Evidence was supplied from motion pictures and from shorthand notes and transcripts of how students construct shorthand outlines at various stages of their training and under pressure of actual dictation at their maximum abilities. Among the findings that are of interest to the pres~ ent study are the following: In one-third of the instances, students transcribed the correct word from an incorrect outline. In two-thirds of the instances, an incorrectly tran— scribed word followed an incorrect outline. An experiment was conducted by Schloemerl7 at the University of Wisconsin to determine the achievement of theory versus non~theory shorthand students. Two classes of approximately equal ability as indicated by grade- point average participated in the experiment. l7Carolyn Schloemer, ”Approaches to Teaching Begin- ning Shorthand," The Balance Sheet, XLVI (March 1965), pp. 299.332. 27 One section was taught by the functional method, using a reading approach of 90 lessons, all writing in context, no drill on isolated outlines, and no theory tests. The second section was taught with a great deal of emphasis on accurate outlines. Frequent theory tests were given and students were encouraged to write diction- ary correct outlines. At the end of the year all students, except one in each class, had passed tests at 60 words a minute. Sev- enty—five per cent in the non-theory class and 73 per cent in the theory class had passed the 80 word test, while 25 per cent in the non—theory class and 18 per cent in the theory class had passed the 100. ' In a lOO—word theory test given to each class at the end of the second semester, the median number of theory errors was 19.5 in the theory class and 39 in the non—theory class. The non~theory class, however, had fewer transcription errors-—a median number of 3.5 in the non-theory class and 4.5 in the theory class. As a second-semester final examination, three-minute dictation tests on new material were given at 60, 80, 100 words a minute. The transcripts and the shorthand notes were analyzed. In a pair-by-pair comparison of the stu- dents in the two classes, the theory class wrote more ac- curate shorthand outlines in 12 pairs, the non-theory class wrote more accurate outlines in 8 pairs, and neither 28 student wrote more accurate outlines in 2 pairs. Tran— scripts with 95 per cent or better accuracy were turned in by 19 non-theory students and 15 theory students. Schloemer concludes that when two classes are taught by the same teacher but using a different method with each class, the results secured will be comparable and that the method of approach in teaching shorthand is not as significant to shorthand success as are other fac~ tors, suchansthe ability and interest of the student and the enthusiasm of the teacher in the methods he uses. The disagreement between Leslie and these writers calling for more emphasis on theory seems to lie not in the necessity for knowledge of the principles of writing theory but in the way that knowledge is obtained. According to Leslie, the functional method is based on the concept that the student should not be required to write any shorthand outline until he is thoroughly pre- pared to write it correctly. Leslie further states that one of the most effective ways of accomplishing this end is found in the reading approach. West, on the other hand, labels the reading approach a "non—functional approach to the acquisition of skill” and says that "Oral spelling must from the very start be accompanied by writing."18 ' 18West, op, cit., p. 8. New—matter Dictation Another area of disagreement among shorthand teachers but one about which no research is available is that con- cerning the point at which new-matter dictation should be introduced. Leslie says, Premature introduction of any phase of any subject will retard rather than accelerate the learner's prog— :ress. The learner should not be compelled, should not be permitted to take new-matter dictation until his shorthand habits are strong enough to withstand the strain. He should not be allowed to begin new- matter dictation until he can handle practiced~ matter dictation without undue effort. Then his shorthand habits and skills are strong enough to begin new-matter dictation. To put it another way-- the learner is not prepared to begin new-matter dic- tation until he can write practiced matter at the rate of 80 to 100 words a minute on 60-second repet- itive dictation.l West,2O however, stresses the need to maximize the number of outlines that can be written in chained fashion. He feels that brief forms and highly common words are over- learned at the expense of time that could be devoted to the development of a larger writing vocabulary. West advocates practice situations in which words must be constructed during the press of dictation. Quite early in the training and continuously thereafter some"new" words should be in— cluded in the dictation. l9Lesiie, Methods of Teaching Gregg Shorthand, p. 169. 20West, loc. cit. 3O Hillestad's21 study of learning difficulties in short» hand provided some evidence to support West's contention. that more time should be devoted to developing a larger vocabulary. In Hillestad's study a series of 100 letters, each containing 160 actual words, were dictated to advanced shorthand classes in eight secondary schools. From each class a random sample of five papers was checked for short- hand errors to provide information regarding the principles of shorthand and the kinds of words with which students had most difficulty, as reflected by the errors they made in recording dictation in shorthand. Comparison of the errors made on brief forms and on constructed words showed that errors occurred four times more frequently on the written~out words as on all brief forms, including the derivatives. Apparently, it may be concluded, students learn brief forms quite adequately. The dictation material was analyzed for errors caused by difficulty of vocabulary. It was found that errors in- creased approximately 4 to 6 per cent from one vocabulary group to the next. Thecorrelationtetween vocabulary level and the number of errors was .81. This means that over 65 per cent of whatever causes errors in recording shorthand is accounted for by the vocabulary level. 21Mildred Hillestad, ”Factors Which Contribute to the Difficulty of Shorthand Dictation Materials" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota, 1960). 31 This finding would seem to indicate that increased emphasis should be given to the application of the prin- ciples of word construction. There is, as this review of literature indicates, no consensus as to the most effective method of teaching short— hand” A concern on the part of business educators about the need for improvement of instruction, however, is evi— dent. While it may be true that there is no such thing as one best method for all teachers, we cannot be satisfied with this statement until all stenographic graduates meet acceptable standards. Researchers must continue to iso- late factors influencing the quality of instruction and seek also, as this study attempts, to identify the type of students who may learn better one way and those who learn better by another method of instruction. II. LITERATURE ON PREDICTION OF ACHIEVEMENT IN SHORTHAND Many investigators have studied the relationship between one or more factors and achievement in beginning shorthand. Factors which have been studied include in- telligence, reading ability, penmanship, typewriting, for~ eign languages, English grades, scholastic achievement, and personal characteristics. According to Anderson,22 there has been little agree~ ment in the techniques used or in the findings reported in 22Anderson, op. cit., p.733. the experiments to predict success or failure in shorthand. A number of investigators, however, have found English marks, scholastic achievement, and foreign language marks to be among the best measures yet selected to predict suc- cess or failure in shorthand. Some of these studies will be discussed here. Frink23 also noted considerable interest in pre- dictive measures among researchers and stated that a greater number of investigators found average grades ex— clusive of English to be the best single predictor of suc- cess in shorthand of any factor studied. None of the factors, however, yielded a sufficiently high degree of re— lationship for use in indivudual prediction. Three studies dealing with possible predictors of success or failure in shorthand achievement are of interest to anyone working in this area, not only for the conclu- sions of the studies themselves but also for the unusually thorough reviews of the research in the field. These are 25 26 the studies of Byers,2u Coleman, and Varah. 23Frink, op, cit., p. 40. —-—— 24Edward E. Byers, "Construction of Tests Predictive of Success in First-Year Shorthand” (unpublished Doctor's thesis, Boston University, 1958). 25Brendan G. Coleman, ”The Effects of a Tape Labora- tory Instructional Approach Upon Achievement in Beginning Shorthand Classes” (unpublished Doctor's thesis, Michigan State University, 1964). 26Leonard J. Varah, ”Effect of Academic Motivation and Other Selected Criteria on Achievement of First and Second 33 Byers' study, the purpose of which was to construct testSFmedictiveof success in first-year shorthand, re- ported on six other major efforts to construct shorthand aptitude tests by means of experimental research. These were: Hoke Prognostic Test of Stenographic Ability, Ben— nette Stenographic Aptitude Test, Turse Shorthand Aptitude Test, Detroit Clerical Aptitudes Examination, and Vocational Aptitude Tests for Shorthand Students. The study included a description of the subtests making up each of these test batteries, the measures of validity for each, and a crit~ ical evaluation of each test. Byers’ study attempted to identify functional factors believed to influence the learning of shorthand. Test items were constructed for tests of (l) Phonetic Percep- tion, (2) Retention Ability, (3) Observation Aptitude, (4) Pattern from Parts, and (5) Hand Dexterity. The aptitude tests were administered to three sample populations-mcollege, Junior college and business school, and high school. The criterion measure of shorthand achievement was Dickinson's Semester Shorthand Accomplish~ ment Test, consisting of seven letters each consisting of two and one-half minutes of material dictated at progres~ sive speeds. The multiple R between the scores of the aptitude tests and the shorthand accomplishment scores for 128 Semester Shorthand Students” (unpublished Doctor‘s thesis, Michigan State University, 1966). 34 students in the College group was .76, with a standard error of t.O4. Correlations between the subtests were: Phonetic Perception, .36; Retention Ability, .44; Obser- vation Aptitude, .18; Pattern from Parts, .28; and Hand Dexterity, .68. The standard error of estimate for any criterion score, when predicted from aptitude scores, was found to be i49.42 score points. The multiple R between the scores of the aptitude tests and the shorthand accomplishment scores for 142 students in the Junior-College and Business~School group was .59, with a standard error of i.O4. Correlations between the five aptitude tests as listed above and the criterion measure were .52, .27, .37, .31, and .27, respectively. The standard error of estimate for any criterion score, when predicted from aptitude scores, was found to be 1”68.70 score points. The multiple R between the scores of the aptitude tests and the shorthand accomplishment scores for 137 students in the High School group was .62, with a stand- ard error of t.O5. Correlations between the five apti_ tude tests as listed above and the criterion measure were .49, .24, .32, .46, and .47 respectively. The stand- ard error of estimate for any criterion score, when pre- dicted from aptitude scores, was found to be £54.68 score points. 35 Byers concluded that the obtained multiple R for the college group indicated the presence of a significant rela- tionship between the scores of the aptitude tests and the criterion measure. The multiple R's for the junior college and business school group and for the high school group indicated a relationship of considerable value. The scores from the proposed aptitude tests, to- gether with measures of other factors such as motivation and intelligence, could be used in forecasting group per- formance for each sample population. For the college group, the obtained multiple R indicated that the scores from the aptitude tests, together with measures of other factors, could be used to estimate an individual's poten- tialities to succeed in first_year shorthand. Among the studies reported by Coleman was that con- ducted in Connecticut by Wright27 for the purpose of (l) surveying recent literature relating to shorthand prognosis and (2) evaluating the Byers' FirsteYear Shorthand Aptitude Tests by administering them to a group of potential short- hand students at the high school level. The results of ttm: Byers' Tests were compared with student achievement in shorthand after one year of instruction. 27Ellen M. Wright, "A Summary of Recent (1940_l962), Selected Findings in Shorthand Prognosis with Specific Reference to the Use of the Byers' FirsteYear Shorthand Aptitude Tests at the High School in Southington, Connecti— cut” (unpublished Master’s thesis, Central Connecticut State College, New Britain, Connecticut, 1963), pp. 38~40. 36 The achievement test used consisted of seven dictated business letters, ranging in speed from 45 to 75 words per minute and each taking two and one—half minutes to dictate. Complete data were available for 36 students. Wright con— cluded that because the correlations obtained between the Byers' Tests and shorthand achievement were .3737 t.l5ll that they were not accurate enough as predictors of short— hand ability for use in the school system in which she con- ducted the experiment. She did find, however, that a cor- relation of .6822 i.O94O was produced by comparing the Phonetic Perception Subtest of Byers' Test with shorthand achievement and that there was a higher correlation be- tween these two items than there was between any other two measures in the study. Veon's28 study was designed to determine the rela- tionship of learning factors found in certain foreign- language aptitude tests to the prediction of shorthand achievement in college. The tests selected for this in- vestigation included: (1) American Council on Education Psychological Examination for College Freshmen, 1944 edition, (2) Iowa Placement Examination, New Series, Revised, Foreign Language Prognosis Test, Form A, (3) Luria— Orleans Modern Language Prognosis Test, and (4) Carmichael's 28Dorothy H. Veon, ”The Relationship of Learning Fac— tors Found in Certain Modern Foreign-Language Aptitude Tests to the Prediction of Shorthand Achievement in College” (unpublished Doctor's dissertation, Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College, 1950). 37 Shorthand Learning Test, Semester I (the shorthand cri- terion of achievement). The tests were administered to 299 elementary shorthand students at the George Washington University during the academic years 1945—1948. Veon found that the Iowa Placement Examinations, Foreign Language Aptitude Test, Form M, yielded a cor- relation of .6374 with the shorthand criterion test. The Symond's Foreign Language Prognosis Test provided a higher correlation with the shorthand criterion, .7192, than that obtained on the Iowa Test. A fairly low correltation was obtained between the Luria-Orleans Modern Language Pro- nosis Test and the shorthand criterion test, .3165. The American Council on Education Psychological Examination for College Freshmen, 1944 edition, correlated .5102 with the shorthand criterion. The multiple correla- tion was found to be .5421 which seemed to indicate that the combination of tests used in the study was not partic- ularly effective in predicting success in shorthand. Missling29 conducted a study at Skawano (Wisconsin) High School involving two groups of shorthand students. The first group consisted of twenty students who were given the Turse Shorthand Aptitude Test prior to enrolling in shorthand. Upon the completion of one year of shorthand, 29Lorraine Missling, ”Prognosis Testing in Skawano (Wisconsin) High School” (unpublished Seminar Report, University of Wisconsin, 1954), pp. 36-39. 38 correlations were made to compare performance in the Turse Shorthand Aptitude Test with achievement in shorthand. A correlation of .51 was found. A second group of 36 stu- dents who had completed a year of shorthand were tested with the Turse test and the total test correlation with success in shorthand was .54. Missling also compared achievement in first and sec- ond year shorthand with the Henmon Nelson Test of Mental Ability, grades in all high school courses excluding English, English grades, and typewriting grades. The cor— relation between achievement for each year and average high school grades was the greatest in both instances——.74 for the first class and .73 for the second. Powell3O attempted to determine whether significant differences did exist between shorthand dropouts—failures and continuants. The report analyzed national test scores, personality factor ratings by teachers, English grades, foreign language grades, typewriting grades, shorthand grades, attendance, part-time work activities of the stu- dents, educational and vocational plans, reasons students gave for dropping shorthand, and teacher opinions of why students dropped shorthand. 3OGeorgia Faye Powell, "An Analysis of Shorthand Drops outs at Ottowa Township High School” (unpublished Master's thesis, Illinois State Normal University, 1961). 39 The study concluded that differences do exist be- tween shorthand dropouts and continuants as evidenced by the testing program of a particular school. The scores received by the continuants were higher than those of the dropouts in each case. The areas of difference in the testing program are as follows: a) f) Of all the tests, the Science Research Associates Reading Record was the most significantly differ- ent. The dropouts—failures received a signifi- cantly lower score here than did the continuants. The total score from the Reading Record has the greatest degree of statistical significance of any of the test scores used in the study with the dropouts—discontinuants receiving the lower scores. Other Reading Record test scores of marked sta— tistical significance were the sentence meaning score and the vocabulary score. The national test score from the Science Research Associates Primary Mental Abilities Tests having the greatest statistical significance for short— hand success was the verbal meaning score. The correctness in writing score on the Iowa Tests of Educational Development was the one found to have the greatest statistical significance from that group of tests. Eight of the fourteen dropout means were below the national means, while twelve of the fourteen continuant means were above the national means.3l Other conclusions of the Powell study were: Students continuing shorthand tend to rate higher than the dropouts on all personality factors used in the study. The three factors of greatest significance were industry, initiative, and responsibility. 3llbid., p. 78. to Average grades for the continuants tend to be higher than those of the discontinuants.32 Coleman assumed that because no predictor of probable success in shorthand had been identified, additional effort should be expended in an attempt to identify and isolate significantly accurate predictors of shorthand success. One of the purposes of his study was To determine, if possible, predictors of poten- tial success in beginning shorthand at Michigan State University by statistically analyzing the correlations between student scores on subtests of the Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery and subsequent performance in beginning shorthand as reflected in the form of terminal grades.33 The results of Coleman‘s analysis revealed that none of the correlations between Entrance Test Battery subtests and subsequent performance in beginning shorthand were sub— stantial enough to possess predictive value of grades of potential shorthand students. The following correlations were computed in Coleman's study. Experimental Group Control Group CQT—Verbal .2014 .1056 CQT—Informational .3997 -.1189 CQT-Numerical .2006 .4310 CQT-Total .3290 .1905 Reading .1999 —.ll58 English .0598 .3757 321bid., pp. 79-80. 33Coleman, op. cit., p. 2. 41 Coleman also found, through the use of t_tests, that those students who received a terminal grade of A and D differed significantly as to their performance on the Eng- lish subtest and they also differed significantly as to their performance on the College Qualification portion of the Entrance Test Battery which was represented by the total score for the Verbal, Informational, and Numerical tests. Varah's study includes an extensive review and syn- thesis of research in shorthand prognosis. He summarized the predictors of shorthand ability that have been studied as follows: 1. General Mental Ability tests are commonly used criteria for predicting shorthand achievement. Research shows, however, that mental ability does no better in predicting shorthand achievement than in predicting achievement in other academic subjects. 2. Special Aptitude Tests have been only par. tially successful as predictors of shorthand success. The Turse Shorthand Aptitude Test is the most successful; however, research indicates there are other tests (the ACE Linguistic score, for example) which will do as well as the Turse and require less time to administer. 3. English Grades have frequently been used in studies to predict shorthand success. The studies have concluded that English grades are of value in predicting shorthand achieve- ment. 4. Grade Point Average has frequently been used by researchers who have agreed that it is of value in predicting shorthand achievement, but they have disagreed as to the degree of value.3 34Varah, op, cit., pp. 35—36. 42 The purpose of Varah's study was to determine the predictive value of the Michigan M-Scale, total scores or subscores, (a test of academic motivation) for predicting achievement of eleventh grade girls in first and second semester of Gregg Shorthand when used individually or in combination with the total score or a subscore of an esti- mate of mental ability. This predictive value was then compared with the predictive value of academic grade point average and ninth and tenth grade English grades to deter- mine the most accurate predictor of shorthand achieve- ment. Varah found that 1. Academic motivation as measured by the Michigan M—Scales is a factor in learning in first semester Gregg shorthand but is not a factor in learning in second sem— ester Gregg shorthand. 2. The Michigan M-Scale when used in combination with an estimate of mental ability would significantly increasette precision of prediction by an estimate of mental ability in predicting the achievement of eleventh grade girls in first semester Gregg shorthand. 3. The Word Rating List, a subtest of the Michigan M-Scales, was found to be a significant predictor and a consistently significant predictor of shorthand achieve— ment for both first and second semester of Gregg short— hand. It was concluded that the academic self—concept of 43 the student as measured by the Word Rating List is a factor in learning in first and second semesters of Gregg short- hand. 4. The best single predictors of first semester Gregg shorthand were: (a) grade point average, (b) ninth grade English grades, (c) tenth grade English grades, (d) estimate of mental ability. 5. The best single predictors of second semester Gregg shorthand were: (a) shorthand I teacher grades, (b) grade point average, (c) tenth grade English grades, and (d) mental ability. The preceding review of the literature on shorthand prognosis indicates a continuing interest in this par- ticular subject on the part of researchers. A battery of tests, including general scholastic average, grades in English, and intelligence scores, shows more promise than any single test. Motivation apparently plays a part, also, in shorthand success. It is also evident that fur- ther research is needed to find better predictors of short- hand achievement, and it is one of the stated purposes of this study to add to the available information on the subject. CHAPTER III PROCEDURES In order to test the two hypotheses made in this study, two groups of students, enrolled in two sections of beginning shorthand, were selected. Section one was ar- bitrarily designated as the language arts class and sec- tion two as the new-matter or science-type class. Both classes met four times a week for a fifty-minute period. Section one met at two o'clock on Monday, Tuesday, Wed- nesday, and Thursday; section two met at three o'clock on the same days. I. SELECTION OF THE SAMPLE The sample for this study consisted of 33 Michigan State University students enrolled in two sections of L10 201, winter term 1965, and LIO 202, Spring term 1965. LIO 201 is Beginning Gregg Shorthand I and LIO 202 is Begin- ning Shorthand II. No reference was made in the regis- tration material to indicate that either section was other than the typical beginning shorthand course offered each term by Michigan State University. Students who elected to take beginning Gregg shorthand during the winter term selected their sections without knowledge of the sig- nificance of their choice. 45 At the first class meeting of each section, however, an announcement was made that, because the two sections would be taught in a different manner, students planning to take LIO 202, Beginning Shorthand II, in spring term 1965 would not be permitted to change sections. It had been arranged that the two sections would meet at the same time during spring term as winter, and it was sug- gested that students who knew they would be unable to remain in the same section or would be unable to take L10 202 in spring 1965 should drop LIO 201 for that term. It was explained to the students that the two sections would be covering the material at a different rate, al- though accomplishment at the end of the second term would be measured according to the same standards and by the same tests. A copy of the notice given to students about this requirement is found in the Appendix on page 99, Because it was not considered desirable to announce prior to the first class that there would be anything dif_ ferent about the two sections, the University booklist for the course did not indicate that one section would use the functional method book while the other section would use the manual method book. Only the manual book, which was regularly used at Michigan State University, was listed. Students in section one were furnished functional books at the first class meeting. These books were do- nated for research purposes by the Gregg Division of the McGraw-Hill Book Company. 46 Randomization of Student Choice of Section It was assumed that, because of the size of the stu— dent body at Michigan State University, students electing beginning shorthand during the winter term 1965 would pro— vide a random sample for the experiment. This assumption was made with full recognition of the fact that all en- rollees for the winter term 1965 were not really potential students for a beginning shorthand class. All students, however, could have elected beginning shorthand since no prior requisites existed as conditions of entry to the course. It was also assumed that the students who elected either section one or section two of beginning shorthand for the winter term 1965 would, through their own selec— tion process, randomly distribute themselves between the two sections. Equality of the Two Sections In order to establish the equality or inequality of the two sections studied, the Entrance Test Battery scores of each participating student were secured from the Office of Evaluation Services of the University. These scores are derived from a battery of examinations given to all entering students. The battery consists of six scores: Verbal or Vocabulary, General Information, Numerical, Total, English, and Reading. Student scores on these tests are included in the Appendix on page 103. 47 The two groups were compared for equality of performance on each section of the Entrance Test Battery. The statistical technique used was Analysis of Variance. Table I shows the means, standard deviations, and F statistics for both sections on each part of the Entrance Test Battery. The F tests revealed that there was no statis- tically significant difference between the groups in any of the six factors compared. With degrees of freedom of 1 and 31, the F value required for significance at the .05 level is found to be between 4.17 and 4.08.1 Com— paring the computed F with the tabled value of F revealed each computed value to be below the tabled value. The fact that there was no statistically significant dif— ference between the groups is important to the study be- cause it substantiated the assumption that the students of the two sections entered the course with no significant difference between the groups in aptitude for college level work as shown by their scores on this test battery, which is regularly used for prognostic purposes. 1William L. Hays, Statistics for Psychologists, New York: Holt, Rinehard and Winston, 1963), p. 677. 48 TABLE I MEANS, STANDARD DEVIATIONS, AND F STATISTICS OF MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ENTRANCE TEST BATTERY SCORES FOR SECTIONS ONE AND TWO Section One Section Two Test F. Stat. Mean S. D. Mean S. D. CQT—Verbal 51.80 14.59 49.61 13.86 .19460 CQT—Informational 44.93 9.64 44.55 11.36 .01036 CQT-Numerical 32.40 9.14 30.17 9.65 .45968 CQT—Total 129.13 29.38 124.33 28.66 .22435 English 25.73 8.42 23.55 7.63 .60650 Reading 29.80 8.98 30.83 6.60 .14491 49 Shorthand Pre—test In order to validate students' statements about prior shorthand training, each student was given a shorthand pre— test on the first day of class. The test consisted of the following parts: 1. A three-minute transcription test from plate material which consisted of approximately 180 words pos- sible for transcription. 2. A three-minute test on theory which consisted of 10 words written in shorthand to be transcribed into their longhand counterparts and of 10 words written in longhand to be transcribed into their shorthand counterparts. 3. A three—minute test of brief forms which consisted of 10 brief forms written in shorthand to be transcribed into their longhand counterparts and of 10 brief forms written in longhand to be transcribed into their shorthand counterparts. 0n the basis of this test and the students' state— ments regarding prior study of shorthand, the students were selected for inclusion in the study. Seventy—one students took the pre—test: 35 in section one and 36 in section two. Five students in section one were eliminated from the study because of previous knowledge of shorthand. Five students dropped the course during the first term and ten students dropped it at the end of the term, leaving fifteen students in this section to be included in the study. Two students in section two dropped the course 50 during the first term and twelve dropped it at the end of the first term. Four students were not included in the study because of previous knowledge of shorthand, leaving eighteen students in section two who were included in the study. Those students included in the study had no prior experience in shorthand or so little, as demonstrated by the pre-test, that it could be considered as none. II. DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY Language-arts Class The language—arts class was taught by the functional method, an imitative method with an objective of rapid and accurate use of unverbalized generalizations. Reading Approach. The functional method of teach- ing shorthand is based, according to Leslie,2 on the con— cept that ”the student should not be required to write any shorthand outline until he is thoroughly prepared to write it correctly." To accomplish this, Leslie recommends deferring writing until Lesson 19. In the language—arts class this suggestion was followed, and writing in class and for homework was deferred until the fifteenth class period when students had completed three chapters in the textbook. 2Louis A. Leslie, Gregg Shorthand Manual for the Functional Mehtod, Teacher's Handbook (New York: Gregg Publishing Company, 1936), p. 8. 51 Eglgg, No rules, principles, or generalizations for writing shorthand outlines were mentioned. Students were expected to automatize the correct shorthand responses without ever knowing that there are any rules governing the construction of outlines. Dictation. No new-matter dictation was given until the students had completed the shorthand theory. All dictation consisted of letters taken from the textbook. Presentation of Theory. In the Gregg Diamond Jubilee Series, theory is presented in eight chapters or forty— eight lessons. These lessons were covered in thirty-two class periods so that all theory was taught during the first term of the experiment. Every sixth lesson in the textbook is a review lesson. These lessons were omitted and on eight occasions during the term two lessons were presented in a single class period. Six class periods at the end of the term were used for review and testing. Les- son plans showing the schedule for presentation of theory in both sections are shown in the Appendix on pages 104-5. Science-pype Class The science-type or new—matter class was taught by what has been known among shorthand teachers as the manual method. It is also called the deductive method, the logi- cal method, and the traditional method. According to 52 Leslie and Zoubek3 "the one determining factor in the use of the science-type approach is the objective of verbalized generalizations." Reading Approach. A limited reading approach was used, with students beginning to write in class and for homework after the completion of Chapter I of their text- book, or during the seventh class period. figlgfi, Rules or generalizations for writing were presented in a method that Leslie and Zoubekz1L refer to as a compromise between the deductive and inductive methods. The alphabet and joinings are first presented inductively and then re—presented deductively after the learner has become familiar with the joinings but without taking the time required for him to form and put the generalizations into words. Students, therefore, knew that there was a theoretically correct way of Writing shorthand outlines; but they were not expected to memorize the rules for writing outlines or to write an outline in a particular way during dictation. In both classes, emphasis in dic- tation was on rapid writing—-on "getting something down”—— 3John Robert Gregg, Louis A. Leslie, and Charles E. Zoubek, Instructor's Handbook for Gregg Shorthand, Diamond Jubilee Series (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1963). p. 2. 41bid. 53 and students knew that, except in occasional brief form and theory tests, their shorthand outlines would not be corrected. Dictation. In the science—type class, new—matter dictation, consisting of a letter containing a few words which the students had never seen before, was introduced in the eighth class period and was given every period after that. This dictation was not previewed. After the letter was dictated, however, the teacher would postview it, plac- ing on the chalkboard both outlines requested by the stu- dents and others selected by the teacher, including the new words. Then the letter was dictated a second time. Presentation of Theory. The theory in the science— type class was presented at the rate of one lesson in each class period. During the first term, thirty lessons were presented, including the review lesson at the end of each chapter. Eight class periods at the end of the first term were used for review and testing. The final eighteen theory lessons were presented during the second term of the experi- ment. III. PREPARATION OF MATERIAL Special dictation material for the science-type class was prepared by the researcher for every class period begin- ning with the eighth. This dictation consisted of a short letter containing a few words which the students had never 54 read or written before but which they should have been able to construct from the shorthand principles already studied. The words appearing in Gregg Shorthand, Diamond Jubilee Series, were checked with the Silverthorn Basic Word List.5 A list of words appearing in the Silverthorn list among the 1,500 most frequently used words in written business com- munications but not appearing in the textbook was arranged according to the lesson in which the principle for the word was taught. Some of these words and other less common words were then used in a short letter to be dictated in the science-type class. Because of the limited vocabulary, the dictation material for the first three periods, based on lessons 1 through 4, consisted of sentences rather than letters. Thereafter the dictation consisted of a short letter. Dictation was prepared for forty—five periods; the dictation material and the word list are found in the Appen— dix on pages 106-130. IV. TEACHING PROCEDURES Teacher The two sections of LIO 201 and 202 were taught on a team-teaching basis by two experienced shorthand teachers, the researcher and the director of the study. 5J. H. Silverthorn, Word Division Manual for the Basic Vocabulary of Business Writing (Cincinnati: South- Western Publishing 00., 1958). 55 During winter term, both teachers were in both classes every day. Each teacher, teaching the same day in both sec- tions, taught two days of the week and observed the other two days. During the first five weeks of spring term, because of other commitments, the researcher taught only one day a week and did not observe either section on one day or section one on two days. For the last five weeks of the term, both teachers again taught two days a week and usu- ally' observed when not teaching. Lesson Plans The course outline for the two terms was prepared by the researcher after consultation with the director of the study. Daily lesson plans were prepared by the per— son teaching. The teacher was free to present the mate- rialand use the class time in any way desired. The only restriction placed on either teacher was to present the prescribed theory lesson, to dictate the new-matter letter to the science—type class, and to follow the functional method procedures in the language-arts class. The teachers met almost daily before and after class for discussion and evaluation of procedures. Multiple-channel Tape Laboratory The classes were taught in the multiple—channel tape laboratory at Michigan State University, and the tape facil- ities were utilized in both sections in the same way. The 56 tape lab was not used in either section until both classes were taking dictation. The Gregg tapes, correlated with the textbook, were used. Usually a tape was put on as the classes were assembling, and students began to take dictation as soon as they came into the classroom. The tape used each day was that of a review lesson, usually about six lessons prior to the lesson to be presented that day. Since there were ten minutes between classes at Michigan State University, some students had nearly ten minutes of dictation before class. Whether or not the tapes were used during the class period depended upon the plans of the teacher. However, if the tapes were used in one section, they were also used in the other. Students of both sections were also encouraged to use the tape laboratory in the evening and weekend hours that it was open. The facilities of the tape laboratory were also used in the administration of tests, as explained below. V. CRITERION TESTS Two theory tests and a series of dictated letters were used to compare the two sections in order to test the hypothesis that there would be no significant dif- ference at the end of two terms of instruction in the achievement of beginning shorthand students who were taking new—matter dictation from the beginning of the third week 57 of the term and those students who had no new-matter dic- tation until after all theory had been presented. The statistical procedure used to measure the difference between the group means on these tests was the Analysis of Variance routine UNEQl, computed on the Michigan State University Control Data Corporation 3600 computer. The experimental design for UNEQl is described as one-way randomized, un— equal number of observations in subclasses (treatments). Theory Tests At the end of the first term, a theory test covering lessons 1 through 30 was given to both sections. The test was given in two parts. The first part consisted of 25 brief forms written in shorthand to be transcribed into longhand by the students and 25 brief forms written in long- hand to be written in shorthand by the students. The sec- ond part of the test consisted of 25 words that are not brief forms written in shorthand to be transcribed into longhand by the students and 25 words written in long- hand to be written in shorthand by the students. Students were allowed five minutes to do both parts of the test. A copy of the test is included on pages 131-2. During the eighth week of the second term, a theory test covering all theory in Gregg shorthand was given to both sections. This test consisted of 50 words and brief forms dictated to the students and written by them in shorthand and then transcribed into longhand. The test was recorded on tape and the facilities of the multiple—channel tape laboratory were utilized to insure that it would be administered in exactly the same way in both sections. Both longhand and shorthand were corrected; and the total score, the number of shorthand errors, and the number of transcription errors were compared statis- tically. Dictation Tests The dictation tests used for purposes of comparison were all given during the second term after section two had completed the theory. The tests consisted of three minutes of dictation at 60, 80, and 100 words a minute. There were 27 letters dictated: 9 at 60 words a minute, 9 at 80 words a minute, and 9 at 100 words a minute. A letter at each speed was dictated in seven class periods beginning at the end of the eighth week. Two letters at each speed were dictated during the two—hour period assigned for the final examination. 6 The letters were taken from Speed Dictation and from The Business Teacher.7 A list of the letters used from these two sources is included in the Appendix on page 135- 6Charles E. Zoubek, Speed Dictation with Previews in Gregg Shorthand (New York: MOGraw-Hill BOOK Company, Inc., 1963). 7A magazine published by the Gregg Division, McGraw- Hill Book Company for teachers of business education. 59 The letters and a brief preview for each letter were recorded on tape by the instructors; and the facilities of the multiple-channel tape laboratory were used to insure that the administration was exactly the same in both sec— tions. The tests were given on the same day in each sec- tion. Three letters were dictated—-one at each speed (60, 80, and 100 words a minute); students, however, were . required to take the dictation and transcribe only one letter. After taking the dictation, students transcribed the letter on the typewriter. The typed transcripts were all corrected by the researcher and were marked on the basis of correct words transcribed. Students were considered to have passed a test if they were able to transcribe at 95 per cent accuracy. Errors in transcribing, spelling, punctuation, and typing were counted and had equal weight. Scores were recorded as correct words transcribed, which was computed by subtracting the number of errors from the total number of standard words in the letter. The total number of standard words in a letter dictated at 100 was 300; at 80, it was 240; and at 60, it was 180. Students had to have transcribed three letters at 95 per cent ac- curacy at one speed before going on to the next higher speed. The number of correct words in the student's three tests passed at the highest speed were added to get the correct words transcribed, the score used for statistical analysis. 60 VI. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ENTRANCE TEST BATTERY SCORES AND ACHIEVEMENT IN SHORTHAND In order to test the second hypothesis, that there is no relationship between the student scores on the Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery and sub- sequent performance in beginning shorthand, student scores on these tests were correlated with achievement in short— hand as measured by the total number of correct words transcribed in the dictation tests. The battery of examinations were described by War- rington as follows: Measures are obtained for four areas all of which we think are highly relevant to success in college. These areas are as follows: General Academic Ability, Language Usage, Reading Comprehension, and Quanti- tative Ability. Most of the tests have been developed locally by faculty members of the Office of Evaluation Services. We feel that these tests are good tests and the fact that several of the test writers have served and/or are serving as consultants to most of the better known testing operations supports this claim. The one standardized test regularly used is the College Qualification Test (CQT) published by the Psychological Corporation of New York City. This instrument is designed to measure several abilities which are indicative of success in college. The test yields four scores: Verbal or Vocabulary (CQT—V), General Information (CQT—I), Numerical (CQT—N), and a total score (CQT-T). The total score provides the best single index of college ability for Michigan State University students in general, although (CQT-V) supplemented by (CQT-I) seems to relate most closely to success in courses in which verbal facility is im- portant, such as social science and literature, while (CQT—N) supplemented by (CQT—I) seems to be most closely related to success in technically oriented courses which make demands on quantitative ability such as physical science, chemistry, or mathematics. 61 Other locally developed tests are described below. The Michigan State University English Placement test (E) consists of objective test items representing various aspects of sentence structure, and organization. Although the test is intended primarily to identify students who may require assistance from the prepara- tory English program, the test has proved to be a satisfactory and convenient means of identifying students for honors sections. The Michigan State University reading test (R) is a test of reading comprehension. The scOre is based upon the student's ability to answer questions based on reading passages representative of several academic areas at the University. The test is not restricted to the simple mechanics of reading, but rather the score provides some measure of factors involved in critical thought. The test is useful to faculty members in any decision requiring sgme knowledge about the student's verbal ability. The Core Routine on the CDC 3600 was used to calcu- late multiple regressions. Taking achievement in shorthand as the dependent variable and each student's score on the entrance test battery as the independent variables, the reseacher secured the following data: simple correlations, multiple correlation coefficients, regression coefficients, standard errors of coefficients, beta weights, standard error of betas, and partial correlation coefficients. These data were analyzed to determine whether a relation- ship exists between any of these variables and achievement in shorthand and whether any of these tests--or a combi- nation of them--could be used to predict success in short- hand. 8W. G. Warrington, Director, Office of Evaluation Services, Report to the Board of Trustees, Michigan State University (unpublished manuscript), January 10, 1964. The results of the statistical analyses and their implications will be discussed in Chapter IV. 62 CHAPTER IV FINDINGS This chapter presents the results of the statis- tical comparisons made to test the two hypotheses of the study. The first part sets forth the findings related to the achievement of the students in the two sections while the second part contains the findings regarding the use of the Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery scores as predictors of success in shorthand. I. TERMINAL PERFORMANCE OF THE TWO SECTIONS The first hypothesis of the study was that there would be no statistically significant difference in the achievement of the two equated sections of participants at the end of two terms of Shorthand instruction. The statistical technique selected to test this hypothesis was a one-way analysis of variance. The sample groups compared differed systematically in only one way--the introduction and use of new-matter dictation during instruction. The independent or treatment variable, there— fore, was the early introduction of new—matter dictation; while the dependent or criterion variable was the achieve- ment as shown by a score, called the correct words tran- scribed, of the participants on three dictation tests ad- ministered to the two groups at the end of the second term. 64 Table II shows the scores achieved on the dictation tests, the letter grades received by each student, and the mean and standard deviation for each group. The score is the total of correct words transcribed by the student on three tests-—a score which was derived by sub— tracting from the standard words in each test the number of errors in the transcript. The mean score, when rounded to a whole number, was the same for each group; 602.20 for section one (the lan- guage arts group) and 601.89 for section two (the science- type or new-matter group). The F statistic of variance between groups was .00008; therefore, the null hypothesis that there would be no difference between the achievement of the two groups could not be rejected. Among the 15 students included in the study in sec- tion one, there were no A's, 5 or 33 per cent of the stu- dents in this section received B and 9 or 60 per cent received C. One student, 7 per cent, received D. In section two, among the 18 students included in the study, one student, 5.6 per cent, received A; 4 stu- dents, 22 per cent, received B; 12 students, 66.7 per cent, received C; and 1 student received D. NO F grades were given in either section. The standards for grades were: ‘A 3 three-minute letters, dictated at 100 words a minute, transcribed at 95 per cent accuracy. TABLE II TERMINAL PERFORMANCE AS SHOWN BY SCORES ACHIEVED ON DICTATION TESTS AND SECOND-TERM GRADES Section One Section Two Language-arts Group Science—type Group Correct Words Correct Words Transcribed Grade Transcribed Grade 768 B 873 A 705 B 700 B 713 B 699 B 710 B 699 B 702 B 700 B 638 C 592 C 648 C 588 C 642 C 530 C 581 C 528 C 575 C 521 C 527 C 519 C 527 C 517 C 526 C 516 C 526 C 521 C 513 D 520 C 516 C 516 C 511 D Mean 602.20 601.89 S. D. 90.57 103.89 NO. l5 l8 66 B_ 3 three-minute letters, dictated at 80 words a minute, transcribed at 95 per cent accuracy. g_ 3 three-minute letters, dictated at 60 words a minute, transcribed at 95 per cent accuracy. The scores and letter grades for the entire class are shown in the Appendix on page 136. Results of the Theory Tests At the end of the first term and in the seventh week of the second term, theory tests were administered to each group and the scores were compared statistically. The theory tests in no way entered into the computation of the students' grades. They were used solely for research purposes. Table III shows the scores received by the students on the two theory tests. The mean score on the first theory test for students in section one was 85.33 and the mean score for section two was 84.89. With an F statistic of variance between groups of .04534, the hypothesis that there is no signifi- cant difference between the groups cannot be rejected. On the second theory test, the mean score for sec- tion one was 73.40 while for section two it was 74.17. The F statistic was .02118 and again the hypothesis of no significant difference could not be rejected. As a matter of interest, the number of shorthand and transcription errors made by students on the second theory test were analyzed and compared. The mean number 67 TABLE III STUDENT SCORES ON THEORY TESTS Section One Section Two Test One Test Two Test One TeSt Two 93 87 95 86 91 90 94 90 89 79 92 95 89 81 92 87 89 73 89 86 88 85 89 64 87 83 88 93 87 76 88 90 86 8O 85 78 84 79 84 80 84 67 82 57 8O 52 81 79 79 75 81 7O 79 49 81 66 75 45 8O 66 8O 56 78 48 69 44 Mean 85.33 73.40 84.89 74.17 s. D. 5.09 14.04 6.6 15.87 NO. l5 l8 of shorthand errors in section one was 18.20 and in sec- tion two it was 17.67; the mean number of transcription errors in section one was 8.40 and in section two, 8.17. In neither case could the hypothesis of no significant difference be rejected. This information is shown in Table IV. 68 TABLE IV NUMBER OF SHORTHAND AND TRANSCRIPTION ERRORS MADE BY STUDENTS IN THEORY TEST TWO Section One Section Two Shorthand Transcription Shorthand Transcription Errors Errors Errors Errors Mean 18.20 8.40 17.66 8.16 S. D. 7.04 7.40 10.17 . 6.38 NO. l5 18 F Statistic: Shorthand errors: .02939 Trans. errors: .00946 Relationshipretween Terminal Performance and Theory Tests Eb determine whether a relationship existed be— tween achievement in the dictation and transcription tests and the theory tests, these scores were correlateé} and the results are shown in Table V. The correlations shown in Thble V indicate that there is a significant relationship between tran- scription achievement and knowledge of theory as indicated by a word test. The coefficient of determination, in which the correlation coefficient is squared, was computed to Obtain a deeper understanding of this relationship. The coefficient of determination represents "the strength of linear relationship in a given set of data."1 In this lHays, _p, cit., p. 502. .69 TABLE V CORRELATION BETWEEN TRANSCRIPTION SCORES AND THEORY TEST SCORES Theory Test 1 Theory Test 2 Coeff. Coeff. Coeff; Coeff. of Corr. of Deter. of Corr. of Deter. Section 1 .76 .58 .6173 .37 7 Section 2 .59 .35 .43 .19 Sections 1 and 2 .61 .37 .52 .27 —: - __: . case, it may be said to reflect the proportion of the in- fluence of knowledge of theory on achievement in dictation and transcription. For example, the coefficient of cor- relation for Theory Test 2 and achievement of both groups was .52, indicating some relationship between the two factors.. The coefficient of determination was .27, indi— cating that 27 per cent of the achievement was related to knowledge of theory while 73 per cent was brought about by other factors. Admittedly, the number of students involved in this study was limited. These figures, however, are in agree- ment with those obtained by Danielson in her study of the relationship between shorthand vocabulary competency and shorthand dictation achievement. Danielson found a coef- ficient of correlation of .49 and a coefficient of deter- mination of .24. From this, she concluded that about 25 70 per cent of the shorthand dictation rate variable was ef- fected by the shorthand vocabulary index.2 II. ENTRANCE TEST BATTERY SCORES AS PREDICTORS OF SUCCESS IN SHORTHAND The second hypothesis of the study was that there would be no relationship between student scores on the Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery and sub— sequent performance in beginning shorthand. Simple and multiple regression correlations were calculated to test this hypothesis. Through the use of the CORE routine on the CDC 3600, the following information was obtained: 1. Simple correlations between the six scores on the Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery and achievement in shorthand as measured by the transcrip— tion scores previously described. 2. Multiple correlation coefficients. 3. Regression coefficients. 4. Beta weights. 5. Partial correlation coefficients. This information was obtained for each of the sec- tions and for the two sections combined. Analysis of Simple Correlations Table VI shows the simple correlations between scores on each element of the Michigan State University 2Danielson, 9p, cit., p. 41. 71 Entrance Test Battery and achievement in shorthand as measured by the correct words transcribed on the three theory tests. TABLE VI CORRELATION OF MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY TEST BATTERY SCORES AND ACHIEVEMENT IN SHORTHAND M Section Verbal Informational Numerical Total English Reading “V 1 .0953 .1203 .0843 .1120 .5203 .2639 2 .6171 .6400 .4173 .6924 .6935 .4430 l and 2 .3889 .4423 .2799 .4431 .6103 .3450 f _— In order to determine whether the correlation coefe ficients obtained on the two sections were significantly different, that is, whether the two samples can be consid- ered random samples from a common population, Fisher's Z tranSformation was used. Each r was converted to Z by using the Table of Transformation of r to 2.3 By dividing the difference between the two values of Z by the standard error of the difference, a test of significance may be made. These computations are found in the Appendix on page JEN“ 3Hays, 9p, cit., p. 680. 72 A value of 1.96 is required for significance at the .05 level.L‘l Since the computed Z fell short of this value in each case, the difference between the correlations can— not be said to be significant. The apparent difference in the correlations is probably due to the relatively small number of cases in the samples. Significance of the Correlation Coefficients The correlations between the predictor variables and shorthand achievement were then tested to determine whether they were significantly different from zero. The table Critical Values of the Correlation Coefficient was used to determine significance.5 The tabled values of r were used with confidence limits Of .05. The degree of freedom were determined by N - 2 where N equals the num- ber of observations. Section One. The tabled value of r at the .05 level with 13 degrees of freedom was .514. Only the correlation between English and achievement in shorthand at .5203 was found to be significantly different from zero. Section Two. The tabled value of r with 16 degrees of freedom is .468. Therefore, four of the correlations in section two were significant: CQT—Verbal at .6171, “Ibid., p. 673. 5George A. Ferguson, Statistical Analysis in ng- chology and Education (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Com- pany. Inc.). 1959. p. 315. 73 J CQT-Informational at .64, CQT-Total at .6924, and English at .6935. These correlations indicate that the relation- ship between these predictor variables and shorthand achievement was significantly different from zero. Combined Sections. The correlations between the pre- dictor variables and shorthand achievement for sections one and two combined were also tested to determine whether they were significantly different from zero. With a tabled value of .345 required for significance at the .05 level with 31 degrees of freedom, all but one of the correlations (CQT—Numerical) were found to be significant. There is, therefore, some relationship between these predictor var- iables (CQT-Verbal, CQT—Informational, CQT—Total, English, and Reading) and achievement in shorthand. To simply stop with a statement as to the signifi- cance of the coefficient of correlation is not enough. The coefficient of correlation tells us to what extent two things are related, to what extent variations in one go with variations in the other. It does not, however, give directly anything like a percentage of relationship. We cannot say that an r of .50 indicates two times the rela— tionship that is indicated by an r of .25. There are, however, three derivations of r that give us more infor- mation about the correlation coefficients and the accuracy of prediction. These are the coefficient of alienation, the index of forecasting efficiency, and the coefficient of determination. 74 Coefficient of alienation. The coefficient of alien- ation (k =\/l - r2) indicates the degree of lack of rela- tionship. It is the ratio of the dispersion of errors to the dispersion of obtained values. Index of forecastinggefficiency. The index of fore- casting efficiency (E : 100(1 — k)) is the percentage re— duction in errors of prediction by reason of correlation between two variables. For example, when r = .61, k (the coefficient of alienation) = .7924 and E (the index of forecasting efficiency) is .2076. The margin of error in predicting Y with knowledge of X scores is about 79 per cent as great as the margin of error we should make with- . out X scores. The reduction of margin of error is 20.76 per cent by reason of correlation between two variables. In other words, the efficiency of prediction made with knowledge of X scores is estimated to be about 21 per cent better than predicting without such knowledge. Coefficient of determination. The coefficient of determination (r2) represents the strength of the linear relationship in a given set of data. If the correlation is .80, then 64 per cent of the variance in Y is accounted for or associated with variance in X. When r = .50, the percentage of the variance in Y that is accounted for by the variance in X is 25, or one-fourth.6 6J. P. Guilford, Fundamental Statistics in Psychology and Education (New York: McGraw—Hill Book Company, 1965) pp. 376-379. 75 In order to Obtain more information about the cor- relation coefficients and the accuracy of prediction, these three derivatives of r were calculated for those correlation coefficients that were statistically significant. Table VII shows the calculated values for these de- rivatives. The figures in Table VII indicate that none of the Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery scores alone can be used as a criterion measure for predicting success in shorthand. The coefficient of alienation, in- dicating the degree of lack of relationship, is high in each case while the highest coefficient of determination (CQT-Total and English for Section 2) is .48 indicating that 48 per cent of achievement in shorthand is accounted for by whatever is measured by each of these two tests. In the two sections combined, the English test has a coef- ficient of determination of .37 indicating that 37 per cent of achievement in shorthand is accounted for by what- ever is measured by the English test. These findings are in agreement with those of Coleman who also tried to use Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery scores as predictors of success in shorthand. His conclusion was that none of the correlations between Entrance Test Battery subtests and subsequent performance in beginning shorthand was substantial enough to possess predictive value of grades for potential shorthand students. 76 AIIIA Ilyll 1" '1‘ ma 6 so. mam. menoncm em am on. oao. nonsmom om HH mm. mas. Hmuoe om HH mm. m::. HmcofimesomsH ma m mm. mwm. Hmnpo> “m com a mcofipoom we mm ms. moo. Enhamcm w: mm mm. mam. Hmpoe H: mm SS. oso. HocoHDmEEoocH mm Hm ms. saw. Honso> "m cofipoom em ma mm. omm. snhfimom "H EOHpoom cofipmcHEmoooQ coHpoHoonQ coHpoHopsoo cofiumaonhoo mo .mmooo mo go mo pom couc50oom mLOLno EH DEOHOngooo Domaoammooo oocmfipm> ceaposoon cofipoaoonm EH we owmucoonom owmucoopom posse mo cflwsmz mm m 3 ca mZOHBHB<>Hmma HH> mdm<8 77 Coleman, however, did not go beyond the coefficient of cor- relation in interpreting the relationship. Analysis of Multiple Correlation A multiple regression equation provides a means of predicting achievement from several variables considered simultaneously. According to Hull, The multiple regression equation gives the closest estimate it is possible to secure from any particular battery of tests. If the battery contains test units of considerable prognostic value, the equation will make the most of them. If, however, the test units are of little or no value, then the forecasts made by the equation will be without significance. This will be the fault not of the equation but of the tests.7 Partial regression coefficients. The partial regres- sion coefficients provide the weights to be attached to the scores of each independent test when shorthand accom-- tflishmentis to be estimated from all of these tests in combination. These coefficients give the weight which each test exerts in determining the measure of shorthand accom- plishment when the effects of other variables are held constant. Also, when used in the regression equation, the regression coefficients assist in the determination of just what role each of the test variables plays in deter- mining the predicted criteriOn score. Table VIII presents the partial regression coeffi— cients obtained. ‘ 7C1ark L. Hull, Aptitude Testing(New York: World Book Company, 1928), p.7466. ' 78 TABLE VIII PARTIAL REGRESSION COEFFICIENTS FOR FIVE PREDICTOR TESTS — 4 Section One Section Two Sections One and Two Verbal 2.73 .50 - .59 Informational -6.83 4.42 I 1.16 Numerical —5.67 3.82 1.28 English 14.26 2.80 8.77 Reading 5.13 -4.65 - .10 _— __.____ The regression equation which expresses the rela- tionship between the criterion measure of shorthand achievement and the five tests may be written as follows: Y = a0 + alxl + a2X2 + a3X3 + a4 X4 + a 5X5 with Y’representing the predicted shorthand accomplish- ment score a representing the constant score which must be added a through a5 representing the weight of each test X1 through X5 representing the actual scores obtained on the tests. Utilizing the partial regression coefficients ob- tained, prediction of the shorthand achievement score from the Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery scores could be accomplished with the following multiple regres- sion equations. 79 Section One: 406.86 + 2.73xl + (-6.83)x2 + (5.67)x3 + 14.26x4 + 5.13x5 Section Two: 323.64 + -5OX1 + 4.42X2 + 3.82X3 + 2.8OX4 + (-4.65)X5 Combined Sections: 305.66 + (—.59)xl + 1.16x2 + 1.28x3 + 8.77x4 + (—.lO)x5 In order to determine the strength of the relation— ship between the combined variables and shorthand achieve- ment, a multiple correlation was computed. By combining the Verbal, Informational, Numerical, English, and Reading scores on the Michigan State University Entrance Test Bat- tery, the multiple correlations shown in Table IX were obtained. TABLE IX MULTIPLE CORRELATIONS BETWEEN FIVE PREDICTORS AND ACHIEVEMENT IN SHORTHAND - _— + R R2 Section One .6403 .4100 Section Two .8390 .7039 Sections One and Two .6261 .3920 8O Significance of the Multiple Correlation Coefficients To determine the significance of the multiple cor- relation coefficients shown in Table IX, an F ratio was computed using the formula R2 N-k-l F =-—--—- 1—R2 k where R = multiple correlation coefficient N = number of observations k = number of predictor variables The table of F is entered with degrees of freedom of k and N - k - 1.8 When computed by the above formula, only the multiple correlation for section two with an F value of 5.23 as com— pared with the tabled F value of 4.70 was considered sig- nificant. The computations are found in the Appendix on page 138. The multiple R is subject to the same kinds of inter— pretation as simple r. It does not give directly a per- centage of relationship. The coefficient of multiple determination (R2), however, tells us the proportion of variance that is associated with or predicted by the pre— dictor variables. For section one we can say that 41 per cent of the variance in shorthand achievement is accounted for by whatever is measured by the Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery. For section two, this percentage 8Ferguson, 9p, cit., p. 301. 81 was 70 and for the two sections combined it was 39 per cent. The latter figure is slightly higher than the best single predictor for the two groups combined, English, with a common variance of 37 per cent. To determine the value of each variable in the com- bined test battery, coefficients of multiple determination with each variable in turn dropped were computed. Table X shows these coefficients of multiple determination. TABLE X COEFFICIENTS OF MULTIPLE DETERMINATION WITH ONE VARIABLE DELETED Variables Deleted Section One Section Two Sections One and Two Verbal .3823 .7021 .3895 Informational .3101 .6402 .3874 Numerical .3083 .5611 .3799 English .1464 .6937 .1574 Reading .3607 .6626 .3920 Comparing these figures with the R2 obtained by using all of the variables--.4l for Section One, Two, and .39 for the combined sections--it is evident that .70 for Section dropping any one of the tests would lower the predictive value of the test battery. Dropping the English test from the battery would lower its predictive value considerably for section one and for the combined sections. In these cases, without English, R2 would be reduced from .41 to .15 and from .39 to 82 Corrected Multiple Correlations According to Guliford,9 the multiple R, is an in- ‘ flated value especially when dealing with samples of under 100. A correction for bias can be made by the following formula: 2 ._ cR = 1 — (1-I#h (g _ i) where N = number of cases in sample and m = number of variables correlated. Table XI shows the corrected R and R2 for each sec- tion and the combined sections. TABLE XI CORRECTED MULTIPLE CORRELATIONS BETWEEN FIVE PREDICTORS AND ACHIEVEMENT IN SHORTHAND 4L L v-J r cR CR2 Section One .2031 .04 Section Two .7546 .57 Sections One and Two .5200 .27 The figures in Table XI reduce considerably the coef— ficients of multiple determinagion, with 57 per cent of the variance in achievement being accounted for by whatever is measured by the Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery in section one and 27 per cent for the combined 9J. P. Guilford, pp, cit., pp. 400-401. 83 sections. There is, however, some evidence of a relation— ship between the tests and achievement in shorthand that would make further study of these factors worth while. A bulletin prepared by the Office of Evaluation Ser- vices at Michigan State University states that CQT-Verbal supplemented by CQT-Informational seems to relate most closely to success in courses in which verbal facility is important and that CQT—Numerical supplemented by CQT-Infor- mational appears to be most closely related to success in technically oriented courses which make demands on quanti- tative ability.10 In order to see if these combinations of tests could be used to predict success in shorthand when taught by either a language arts or science—type approach, multiple correlations of these two variables were computed. Table XII shows the results of these calculations. These figures do not support the theory that stu— dents with verbal facility will do better when taught by a language arts method while those with quantitative abil- ities will do better in a science—type approach. The relatively small numbers, however, do affect multiple cor— relation and further experiments in this area would be worth considering. 10”The Use of Orientation Test Data," Testing Bul- letin No. 3 (Office of Evaluation Services, Michigan State University, July, 1960), p. 1. . 84 TABLE XII MULTIPLE CORRELATIONS BETWEEN TWO PREDICTOR VARIABLES AND ACHIEVEMENT IN SHORTHAND f Verbal Informational and and Informationafi Numerical R R R R2 Section One .1245 .0155 .1900 .0083 Section Two .6600 .4358 .6860 .4705 Combined Sections .5345 .2857 .4120 .1698 This combination of variables does not improve the prediction value of the tests. The best prediction equa- tion makes use of the five parts of the Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery. This chapter presented the findings of the study. Chapter V will summarize the study and present the con- clusions and recommendations of the researcher. CHAPTER v SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS I. NATURE OF THE STUDY This study was an experiment to determine the effects of the early introduction of new—matter dictation on achievement in beginning shorthand and to contribute to the available data on shorthand prognosis. Need for the Study, A review of the literature on the teaching of begin- ning shorthand revealed that there was no consensus as to the most effective method of teaching shorthand and that much of what is being written about the teaching of short- hand is based on opinion rather than on sound research. It was felt that attention needed to be given to the be- havior of learners at each successive level of skill and the implications for instructional materials and procedures. This study looked at one aspect of the teaching of begin- ning shorthand—3the early introduction of new-matter dic- tation? Delimitations of the study The study was delimited to students enrolled at Mich- igan State University in LIO 201, Beginning Shorthand I, and LIO 202, Beginning Shorthand 11, during winter and spring terms of 1965. 86 Hypotheses Tested The null hypotheses tested in the study were: 1. There is no difference at the end of two terms Of instruction in the achievement of beginning shorthand students taking new-matter dictation from the third week of the first term and that of students who have had only practiced material for dictation until after all theory has been presented. 2. There is no relationship between student scores on the Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery and subsequent performance in beginning shorthand. II. SUMMARY OF THE PROCEDURES Definition of the Popqlation The sample for the study consisted of 33 Michigan State University students enrolled in two sections of LIO 201 and LIO 202. It was assumed that, because of the size of the stu- dent body at Michigan State University, students elect- ing beginning shorthand during the winter term 1965 would provide a random sample for the experiment. It was also assumed that the students who elected either section one or section two of beginning shorthand for the winter term 1965 would, through their own selection process, randomly distribute themselves between the two sections. Equality of the Sections. To establish that there was no significant difference between the groups in aptitude 87 for college work, they were compared for equality of per- formance on each section of the Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery by means of an Analysis of Variance. F tests revealed that there was no statistically signifi- cant difference between the two groups in any of the’Sub- tests of the test batteryl Pre-test. To validate students' statements about prior shorthand training, each student was given a short- hand pre-test on the first day of class. On the basis of this test and the students' statements regarding prior study of shorthand,'15 students from section one and 18 students from section two were selected for inclusion in the study? Preparation of Material Dictation material for the new—matter class was pre- pared for every class period beginning with the eighth. The dictation consisted of a short letter containing a few words which the students had never read or written before but which they should have been able to construct from the shorthand principles already learned. Teaching Procedures The two sections of LIO 201 and 202 were taught on a team~teaching basis by two experienced shorthand teachers. Daily lesson plans were prepared by the person teaching. The facilities of the Michigan State University multiple channel tape laboratory were utilized in both sections. Collection of the Data Criterion Tests. ‘Two theory tests and a series of dictated lettersuwere used to compare the two sections in order to test the first hypothesis that there would be no significant difference in the acRievement at the end of two terms of instruction. Predictive Tests. In order to test the second hypothesis that there is no relationship between the stu— dent scores on the Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery and subsequent performance in beginning short- hand,‘btudent scores on these tests were correlated with achievement in shorthand as measured by the correct words transcribed in the dictation testsi III. FINDINGS Terminal Performance of the Two Sections 1. There was no statistically significant difference between the achievement of the two groups on the dictation tests. 'The mean score, when rounded to a whole number, was the same for each group? 602.20 for section one and 601.89 for section two. Although there was a wider range in the scores in section two-—51l to 873 as compared with 513 to 768 in section one—-this was due to one high score. The low scores were close. 2. THere was no statistically significant difference between the two groups on the two theory tests. Neither was there any statistically significant difference between 89 the two groups in the numbercmfshorthand or transcription errors made on those tests. The mean score on the first ‘theory test for students in section one was 85.33 while for section two it was 84.89. 0n the second test, the mean score was 73.40 in section one and 74.17 in section two. The mean number of shorthand errors made by stu— dents in section one on the second theory test was 18.20 while for section two it was 17.66. On this same test, the mean number of transcription errors in section one was 8.40 and in section two it was 8.16. 3. Transcription achievement as measured by the dictation tests correlated with knowledge of theory as measured by the word tests in each section and in the two sections combined. The correlation coefficient between scores on theory test two and scores on the dictation tests was .52 for the combined sections. The coefficient of determination was .27 indicating that 27 per cent of the variation in achievement in shorthand is due to variation in knowledge of theory. Bgliabilipy of Entrance Tests as Predictors 'The following simple correlation coefficients were statistically significantly different from zero: Section one: English, 5203; Section two: Verbal, .6171; Infor- mational, .6400; CQT-Total, .6924; English, .6935; Sec- tions one and two: Verbal, .3889; Informational, .4423; CQT-Total, .4431; English, .6103; Reading, .3450. None 90 'are high of these correlation coefficients, however, enough to be used as a criterion measure for predicting success in shorthand: The five subtests of the Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery when considered simultaneously pro— duced a multiple correlation coefficient of .84 in section two. This correlation was significantly different from zero. The multiple correlations for section one at .64 and for the combined sections at .63 were not statistically significantly different from zero. IV. CONCLUSIONS From an analysis of the findings of the study per- taining to the effect on shorthand achievement of the early introduction of new-matter dictation and from an analysis of the observable relationships between student scores on the Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery and subsequent achievement in beginning shorthand, the follow— ing conclusions are drawn. These conclusions are per- tinent to this study; substantiating research will be nec- essary before they can be generalized. 1. That the early introduction of new—matter dic- tation does not result in an increase in the ability to take and accurately transcribe new-matter dictation mate- nal as measured by the existing departmental standards at Michigan State University. 91 2. That the early introduction of new-matter dic- tation does not, as claimed by some experts, retard the students in their ability to take and transcribe new- matter dictation as measured by the existing department standards at Michigan State University for beginning short~ hand. 3. That this study provides no evidence to suggest either postponed benefits or poStpOned handicaps due to the early introduction of new-matter dictation.f Further long-range research is needed before conclusions Can be drawn regarding the effects of this practice on terminal." achievement in shorthand. 4. That students taught by the functional method in which no emphasis is given to the principles of outline construction do not differ in knowledge of shorthand theory as measured by Word tests from students taught by a science— type approach in which rules and the principles of out- line construction are discussed. 5. That there is a relationship between transcription achievement as measured by the ability to take dictation and transcribe accurately and knowledge of theory as measured by word tests. This concurs with the research findings of Danielson,l Palmer,2 and Hillestad.3 It should be reiterated, however, that there was no difference in- cit. 2Palmer, _p_. cit. lDanielson, 22: 3Hillestad, 9p, cit. 92 knowledge of theory between the group taught by a language arts approach with no emphasis on theory and the group taught by a science—type approach with emphasis on out- line construction. . 6. That performance on the subtests of the Michigan State University Entrance Test Battery does not provide an accurate measure for predicting individual success in begin- ning shorthand at Michigan State University. 7. That a multiple regression equation obtained by considering the five subtests of the Michigan State Univer- sity Entrance Test Battery simultaneously does not provide an accurate measure for predicting individual success in shorthand. 8. That there is no evidence to support the theory that students with verbal facility will do better in a language arts approach and students with quantitative abil- ity will do better in a science—type approach to the learn- ing of shorthand. V. RECOMMENDATIONS The following recommendations are made from the find- ings and conclusions of this study. 1. That further research be carried on in beginning and intermediate shorthand to determine, if possible, the most effective use of new-matter dictation through: A. Studies in which new-matter dictation is in— troduced at different points in the learning 93 process, e.g., at the end of the second week, fifth week, tenth week. B. A study in which considerably more new-matter dictation is given than in this study and in which the dictation material is constructed from words beyond the first 1500 in the Silverthorn list. 2. That this study be replicated with high school and junior college or business school groups. 3. That further experiments be conducted to deter- mine the relationship between emphasis on accurate outlines and achievement in shorthand dictation ability. 4. That further attempts be made to determine pre- dictors of success in shorthand in the Michigan State Uni— versity Entrance Test Battery scores over a period of time. BIBLI OGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY Anderson, Ruth I. "An Analysis and Classification of Re- search in Shorthand and Transcription." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University, 1946. Balluff, Adelaide. "An Analysis of the Functional Method of Teaching Shorthand." Unpublished Master's thesis, State University of Iowa, 1938. Belanger, Lillian A. "A Comparison of theManual and Fun— tional Methods of Teaching Shorthand." Unpublished Master's thesis, Tufts College, 1944. Byers, Edward E. "Construction of Tests Predictive of Success in First-Year Shorthand." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Boston University, 1958. Coleman, Brendan G. "The Effects of a Tape Laboratory In- structional Approach upon Achievement in Beginning Shorthand Classes.” Unpublished Doctoral disserta- tion, Michigan State University, 1964. Danielson, Harriet A. "The Relationship Between Competency in Shorthand Vocabulary and Achievement in Dictation." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University, l959. Ferguson, George A. Statiptical Analysis in Psychology and Education. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1959. Fermenick, William F. "An Analysis of the Relationship Between Application of Some of the Principles of Gregg Shorthand Simplified and Errors in Transcrip- tion." Unpublished Master's thesis, Mankato State College, 1959. Cited by Ruth I. Anderson, "Signi- ficant Implications of Research in Shorthand and Transcription," American Business Education Year- book, 1962, 400 pp. Frink, Inez, "A Comprehensive Analysis and Synthesis of Research and Thought Pertaining to Shorthand and Transcription." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University, 1961. Guilford, J. P. Fundamental Statistics in Psychology and Education. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company,rfi' Inc., 1965, 605 pp. 96 Hays, William L. Statistlcs for Psychologists. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963, 719 pp. Hillestad, Mildred C. "Factors Which Contribute to the Difficulty of Shorthand Dictation Materials." Un— published Doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota, 1960. ' Hull, Clark L. Aptitude Testing. New York: World Book Company. 1928. 535 pp. Leslie, Louis A. Gregg Shorthand Manual for the Functional Method, Teacher's Handbook. New York: Gregg Publish— ing Company, 1936. . Methods of Teaching Gregg Shorthand. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1953, 497 pp. . The Teaching of Gregg Shorthand py the Function- al Method. New York: The Gregg Publishing Company, 1935. Liles, Parker. "Issues in Teaching Shorthand," The Bal- ance Sheet, va (October, 1963) pp. 52-57. Missling, Lorraine. "Prognosis Testing in Skawano (Wis— consin) High School," Unpublished Seminar Report, University of Wisconsin, 1954. Palmer, Elise D. "Development and Evaluation of Multiple Channel Tapes in Beginning Shorthand Classes." Un- published Doctoral dissertation, University of Ten- nessee, 1963. Palmer, Rose. "A Comparison Between Two Groups of Short- hand Writers." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, New York University, 1964. Patrick, Alfred. "An Error Analysis of Selected Brief Forms and Principles in Shorthand Notes of Beginning Students." Unpublished Master's thesis, The Univer— sity of Tennessee, 1965. Powell, Georgia F. "An Analysis of Shorthand Dropouts at Ottowa Township High School." Unpublished Master's thesis, Illinois State Normal University, 1961. Regan, Teresa A. "Paychological and Pedagogical Basis of the Functional Method of Teaching Gregg Shorthand." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation. Boston College, 1937. 97 Schloemer, Carol n. "Approaches to Teachin Beginning Shorthand,‘ The Balance Sheet, XLVI IMarch, l9 5), pp. 299. 332. "The Use of Orientation Test Data," Testing Bulletin No.33, Office of Evaluation Services, Michigan State Univer- sity, July 1960. Varah, Leonard J. "Effect of Academic Motivation and Other Selected Criteria on Achievement of First and Second Semester Shorthand Students." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Michigan State University, 1966. Veon, Dorothy, H. "The Relationship of Learning Factors Found in Certain Modern Foreign Language Aptitude Tests to the Prediction of Shorthand Achievement in College." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College, 1950. Warrington, W. G. A Report to the Board of Trustees, Michigan State University. Unpublished manu- script, January 10, 1964. West, Leonard J. "The Acquisition of Stenographic Skill: A Psychological Approach," Business Education Forum (October, 1963), pp. 7—8. Wright, Ellen M. "A Summary of Recent (1940-1962), Selected Findings in Shorthand Prognosis with Specific Refer- ence to the Use of the Byers' First-Year Shorthand Aptitude Tests at the High School in Southington, Connecticut." Unpublished Master's thesis, Central Connecticut State College, 1963. Zoubek, Charles E. Speed Dictation with Previews in Gregg Shorthand. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1963. APPENDIX 99 LIO 201, Winter 1965 LIO 202, Spring 1965 In an effort to find a more effective and easier way to learn shorthand, the two sections of LIO 201 and 202 will be taught by different methods. The material will be covered at different rates; testing will be done in a dif- ferent manner. By the middle of the second term, the two classes will be at the same point. Accomplishment at the end of the second term will be measured by the same grading standard. By the end of Spring term it will make no dif— ference which section you are in, but you would be at a loss if you were to change sections at the end of the first term or plan to take 202 any time but Spring 1965. For this reason, we are requiring that you remain in the same section for both terms. The sections will be taught at the same hour during Spring term. If you foresee difficulties in remaining in the same section or if you are not planning to continue with shorthand in the Spring term, we request that you not take it this term. PTPTBF 100 Please sign this paper on this line. Please write the English equivalent or word for each of the shorthand outlines given below. Write in the space just to the right of each shorthand outline. If you have no idea of the word that the shorthand outline stands for, just leave the space blank. It is quite possible that you will leave the entire page blank. 2o C a. / 4. / 9- ,Q/ / 10. ,7 Now, please write the shorthand outline (using Gregg short— hand) for each of the following words. Write in the space provided at the right of each of the English words. If you have no idea of what the shorthand outline should be, just leave the space blank. It is quite possible that you will leave the entire page blank. (Note: None of the words in the first list on this page is included in the list below.) l. I 6. and 2. it, at 7. one 3. with 8. those 4. for 9. present 5. this 10. put PTPTW 101 Please sign this paper on this line. Please write the English equivalent or word for each of the shorthand outlines given below. Write in the space just to the right of each shorthand outline. If you have no idea of the word that the shorthand outline stands for, just leave the space blank. It is quite possible that you will leave the entire page blank. 1. 2,2, 6. 2. -—-—-—J 7. 3. O()'——1' 8. 7“.) ’ EL.’ 4. 7f? 9. {/Cf’ 5' f 76 Now, please write the shorthand outline (using Gregg short— hand) for each of the following words. Write in the space provided at the right of each of the English words. If you have no idea of what the shorthand outline should be, just leave the space blank. It is quite possible that you will leave the entire page blank. (Note: None of the words in the first list on this page is included in the list below.) 1. dough 6’ enough 2. 7 compose ° quite 3' each 8’ sensible 40 9 large ° efficient 5' line 10' toward 102 M/flvs2M/21W/flflm .aJMz//.¢.J Mm... . are? .19 ,, aofl . .V I figs/IVE; 2%.? 103 o om mm QHH mm om H? . coHuoosom mam 6 mm ma as we em on .om mnocansm Sam 6 mm . 6H om ma mm mm .o< Hcasoomsocm man 0 mm mm mm mm mm Hm cocoaomopq coz mam 0 am SH moH om mm mm .c< Hmahmuopoom :Hm m mm mm mos _ he em no .o< Hoaacacsoom mam 0 mm :m mma Hm m: mm oocopomosn coz mam m mm Hm sma mm .mm mm mwoaonozmm Ham 6 mm on mma ma me no .o< Hosssacsoom oam Q mm ma mm mm mm mm OOCOLOHOLQ coz mom < mm It mad pm mm so nocopm mom 6 am mm Hes me an em .o< Hoaaoocsoom son 0 om mm mofi mm mm m: .o< Hmfiamuosoom com 0 mm mm mmH on m: mm .o< Hmfipmuopoom mom 0 mm mm me o: m: mm .o< Hmasmuoaoom com m 0: cm omfl m: mm NS . mmocfimzm mom 0 am mm ans SH mm mm coaooosom .nsm mom m mm mm Ema mm mm so I mafiacfimpom How oze zoaeomm .HH m mm om mm mm o: om cocopooops coz man m em mm meg am we mo ago; season. ass 6 mm -- Hos em em oe .aom Hooanscm mas o on so and on on we wcaooxscz mad m 6: mm sea we mm as consents use HHH 6 on em mma on me am snacocm oHH o as mm so ma , mm on cocopoccss coz mod 6 as mm non am no mo snacmem mos 6 ma em wfia em me me .o< thhbpopoom son 6 mm mm was on as ea cocosccopo coz 86H 6 mm om ASH an em on cesspoocaa coz moa m SH on mm on om mm recess nos m cm mm was cm as om cocopoooao eoz moH o em mm mm mm om om cocoscoopo coz won 6 mm mm ems 6: mm mm cocopocopo coz Hoax: mzo zo E omm .H compo poem .mem 9-936 z-soo H-936 >-soo pomoz scoosom 1“ mmmoom wmmbbdm BmMB woZHZD me