Page 70 - Štremfel, Urška, ed., 2016. Student (Under)achievement: Perspectives, Approaches, Challenges. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut. Digital Library, Documenta 11.
P. 70
correlation for low-achieving female students does not differ significantly from
0). This may be the result of a generally more negative attitude to reading in
this group. Individuals who are poor readers, but nevertheless achieve some-
what better, on average, report less enjoyment of reading than individuals
who are extremely poor readers. This may originate from the struggle in over-
coming basic obstacles in reading, related to either reading technique or fa-
miliarity with, and use of, the aforementioned strategies. It is important to be
aware that the initial steps in overcoming the obstacles may first even slight-
ly increase reluctance to read in these female and male students (and quite
possibly in younger students with similar difficulties), before a connection be-
tween the enjoyment of reading and improved reading competencies is re-
vealed. Only when basic reading-related obstacles have been overcome, will
they be able to develop a more positive attitude to reading, will read more and
consequently improve their reading achievement.
The index of enjoyment of reading materials is strongly correlated with the
index of diversity of reading materials (the correlation between the two is 0.44),
which is also indicated in Figure 3, with the pattern of mean values of these
70 two indices by achievement groups. The mean values of the index of diversi-
ty of reading materials increase by groups from low to higher achievement. It
seems low-achieving students stick to few, or only one, type of reading mate-
rial. The analysis of direct answers in items of this index indicates that as many
as 45% of students in this group report that they read magazines and news-
papers only. Figure 3 also shows that the difference between genders for this
index is the highest for the low-achievement group and lowest for the high-
er-achievement group. This indicates that in comparison with male students,
low-achieving female students report choosing more diverse reading materi-
als, while for the higher-achievement group no such gender difference is no-
ticeable – both higher-achieving female and male students opt for diverse
reading materials. The possibility of encouraging diversity of reading materi-
als, in particular in low-achieving students, may also be perceived.
Based on the indices, it is possible to establish that female students re-
port more frequent visits to the library than male students, regardless of the
achievement group (the index of the use of libraries). However, the correlation
between the index of the use of libraries with reading achievement is neutral,
only in low-achieving female students is it actually negative. The achievement
of female students from this group who reported that they used the library
more frequently was, on average, lower than the achievement of female stu-
dents from the same group who reported less frequent library visits. However,
this correlation is still relatively weak.
An additional area for investigation is the more or less frequent use of
learning strategies when studying, reported by students participating in PISA
2009. The differences between achievement groups, and between genders for
student (under)achievement: perspectives, approaches, challenges
0). This may be the result of a generally more negative attitude to reading in
this group. Individuals who are poor readers, but nevertheless achieve some-
what better, on average, report less enjoyment of reading than individuals
who are extremely poor readers. This may originate from the struggle in over-
coming basic obstacles in reading, related to either reading technique or fa-
miliarity with, and use of, the aforementioned strategies. It is important to be
aware that the initial steps in overcoming the obstacles may first even slight-
ly increase reluctance to read in these female and male students (and quite
possibly in younger students with similar difficulties), before a connection be-
tween the enjoyment of reading and improved reading competencies is re-
vealed. Only when basic reading-related obstacles have been overcome, will
they be able to develop a more positive attitude to reading, will read more and
consequently improve their reading achievement.
The index of enjoyment of reading materials is strongly correlated with the
index of diversity of reading materials (the correlation between the two is 0.44),
which is also indicated in Figure 3, with the pattern of mean values of these
70 two indices by achievement groups. The mean values of the index of diversi-
ty of reading materials increase by groups from low to higher achievement. It
seems low-achieving students stick to few, or only one, type of reading mate-
rial. The analysis of direct answers in items of this index indicates that as many
as 45% of students in this group report that they read magazines and news-
papers only. Figure 3 also shows that the difference between genders for this
index is the highest for the low-achievement group and lowest for the high-
er-achievement group. This indicates that in comparison with male students,
low-achieving female students report choosing more diverse reading materi-
als, while for the higher-achievement group no such gender difference is no-
ticeable – both higher-achieving female and male students opt for diverse
reading materials. The possibility of encouraging diversity of reading materi-
als, in particular in low-achieving students, may also be perceived.
Based on the indices, it is possible to establish that female students re-
port more frequent visits to the library than male students, regardless of the
achievement group (the index of the use of libraries). However, the correlation
between the index of the use of libraries with reading achievement is neutral,
only in low-achieving female students is it actually negative. The achievement
of female students from this group who reported that they used the library
more frequently was, on average, lower than the achievement of female stu-
dents from the same group who reported less frequent library visits. However,
this correlation is still relatively weak.
An additional area for investigation is the more or less frequent use of
learning strategies when studying, reported by students participating in PISA
2009. The differences between achievement groups, and between genders for
student (under)achievement: perspectives, approaches, challenges
