Capturing Student Attention Improves Vocabulary Gains

This article describes the implementation of a novel affix word web activity in General Biology classrooms at a primarily undergraduate liberal arts university. The quasi-experimental study examines how the same teaching activity yields different learning outcomes dependent on student attention. The affix word web activity was conducted in two formats. One set of classes, the poster group, completed the activity using posters hung throughout the classroom. Another set of classes, the handout group, completed the activity using handouts at their desks and stored in the classroom. Both groups were observationally directed through the activity by the teacher. The handout strategy was designed to enhance student attention. The handout group significantly outperformed the poster group on a vocabulary quiz. Additional implementation parameters such as affix length, overall time, and repetition were not significantly correlated to learning gains while interleaving (spacing) had a moderate correlation. This study supports the idea that leveraging students’ attention impacts the effectiveness of active learning activities.