"The Best Way to Learn: Reading, Hearing, or Seeing?"

Abstract of a paper by Adam H. Schechter

This project consisted of exactly 102 tests in an effort to determine which way of learning was the most effective. It consisted of reading a passage, hearing a passage and seeing a descriptive picture. First, three passages had to be constructed so that each contained twenty details. These then were read onto a cassette tape. Then, three drawings were made to match the descriptions of the reading passages. The next step was the construction of the test questions. Three different question sheets were made, each with seven questions, totaling 21 questions. One question was repeated on two of the tests. The testing commenced by using small groups of volunteers. Each were given one minute to read a passage, as many times as they could. At the end of the one-minute time frame, they were asked to complete the first test. The next test was performed by asking the volunteers to listen to the audio tape which was then played for them twice (approximately one minute). Thereafter, they took the second test. Finally, they were provided with the drawing to examine for a period of one minute and upon completion took the third test. The results were both very interesting and conclusive.

Advisor: S. Gordon, Chabad Hebrew Academy.

Adam Schechter