title: Investigating deaf students' use of visual multimedia resources in reading comprehension.
abstract: A mixed research design was used to examine how deaf students used the visual resources of a multimedia software package that was designed to support reading comprehension. The viewing behavior of 8 deaf students, ages 8-12 years, was recorded during their interaction with multimedia software that included narrative texts enriched with Greek Sign Language videos, pictures, and concept maps. Also, students' reading comprehension was assessed through reading comprehension questions and retelling. Analysis of the students' viewing behavior data, their answers to reading comprehension questions, their "think alouds," and their story retells indicated that they used visual resources, but they did not exploit them in a strategic manner to aid their reading comprehension. The study underscores the important role of mediated instruction in "visual literacy" skills that enable students to learn how to process visual aids in a way that supports their reading comprehension.
authors.affiliation: Department of Special Education, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece. mnikolar@uth.gr
authors.forename: Magda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nikolaraizi
authors.forename: Ioanna
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Vekiri
authors.forename: Susan R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Easterbrooks
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D032882:Comprehension; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003638:Deafness / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D060345:Education of Persons with Hearing Disabilities / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019212:Multimedia; D011932:Reading; D012984:Software; D014743:Videotape Recording / Q000706:statistics & numerical data