Poster #24 - Examining Complexity in Middle School Students’ Evaluation of Books Introduced by Teachers

• In Event: Poster Session 15

Abstract

To foster conditions that promote independent reading in middle school, teachers must understand why adolescents choose to read or not read a specific book (Schwartz & Hendricks, 2020; Wilkinson et al., 2020). While extant research has examined factors that students weigh when perusing library shelves or book fairs (Reutzel & Gali, 1998; Williams, 2008), there is limited research on the factors that students consider when evaluating books that teachers have introduced them to in class. This authentic learning context is important to understand, as these introductions to new books can promote interest in reading (Ivey, 2003; Ivey & Johnston, 2013, 2017; Mackey, 2022; Wilkinson et al., 2020).

The purpose of this qualitative study is twofold. First, it describes factors that students noted as important to their evaluation of books that teachers introduced in class. Second, it explores complexity in students' evaluations of texts when students appreciated some but not all aspects of a book.

Two classroom teachers introduced middle school students to 14 books through brief read alouds and short videos. After each book introduction, students rated their level of interest in the book on a five-point scale and provided a written explanation of their book rating.

Using inductive and deductive coding, I coded 537 written explanations of student book ratings to determine the factors that students considered important to their evaluation of books. To examine student evaluations of books that contain both elements that students like and dislike, I analyzed excerpts in which students described a book as “good…but.”

Students noted a wide range of factors when considering their evaluation of a book. Approximately one-third or more of student participants (n = 43) mentioned the following text-based factors as important to their rating of at least one book: topic (79%), genre (77%), plot (60%), author’s craft (55%), characters (52%), and author's message (31%). Approximately one-third of students described their emotional response (43%), ability to learn about oneself, the world, or others (36%), and relatability to self (31%) as important to their evaluation of at least one book.

The majority (79%) of students described at least one book as “good but.” Students appreciated some aspects of the book, such as the author’s craft, the characters, the message, or the topic. However, other factors, especially the mismatch between their preferred genre and the genre of the book, kept students from assigning a book a higher rating. Students also described appreciating a book topic but not wanting to read more because the book elicited an emotion, especially sadness and stress, that they did not want to experience while reading. In these cases, students described the emotional response as inconsistent with their personal purpose of reading.

Given that students weigh a range of factors when evaluating books, teachers can encourage independent reading by exposing students to books that vary not only in terms of text-based features such as topic, genre, characters, author’s craft, and plot, but also in regards to anticipated emotional responses and potential student relatability, among other factors.

Author

• Lauren Capotosto, College of the Holy Cross
  Presenting Author