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Journal of Education for Business

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Applying Quality Management

Process-Improvement Principles to Learning in Reading

Courses An Improved Learning and Retention

Method

William G. Hahn & Barbara D. Bart

To cite this article: William G. Hahn & Barbara D. Bart (2003) Applying Quality Management Process-Improvement Principles to Learning in Reading Courses An Improved

Learning and Retention Method, Journal of Education for Business, 78:4, 181-184, DOI: 10.1080/08832320309598598

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08832320309598598

Published online: 31 Mar 2010.

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Applying Quality Management

Process-Improvement Principles

to Learning in Reading Courses

An Improved Learning and Retention Method

WILLIAM G. HAHN

BARBARA

D. BART

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Savannah State University

Savannah, Georgia

otal quality management (TQM)

T

has generated a great deal of research and some media attention since 1980. Most of the work has focused on business or industrial applications of TQM techniques (Deming, 1986), and in some cases dramatic results have been found. Though some research has been directed to the application of TQM principles to higher education (Matt- hews, 1993), most of it has focused on operational and administrative problems at the university level or surveys regard- ing the number and type of higher education institutions engaged in total quality management (Froiland, 1993;

Horine, Hailey,

& Rubach, 1993). Apparently few studies have focused on

the application of TQM principles to the improvement of teaching and learning.

Helms and Key (1994) noted that the potential contributions of TQM are needed more in teaching than in any other area, although reporting of work in this area is spotty. Bass and Dellana (1996) reported that TQM in teaching has been applied to content, structure, delivery, and a small number of other variables. Vaz- zana and Winter (1997) focused on the use of TQM in teamwork, decision-making, communication, and other group-ori- ented exercises that depend on the feed-

ABSTRACT. In this study, the authors examined a learning and retention method that combines quali-

ty management continuous-improvement strategies with well-established cognitive learning principles. This method offers a simple quantitative

measure of individual learning efficiency, allowing the learner to improve his or her learning process. The group means on exam scores of participants using this method were

12.4 points higher than the group

means of nonusers. Correlation find-

ings revealed a significant and positive relationship between the learning method and exam scores.

back dimension of TQM. Among other isolated anecdotal studies, McKenzie’s (1995) detailed the use of a fishbone chart in a middle school social studies class, and Killingsworth, Harden, and Dellana’s (1999) covered the integration of TQM principles in an undergraduate course in systems analysis and design using problem-based learning (Albanese &

Mitchell, 1993). Other research in the literature of TQM teaching applications includes Mehrez, Weinroth, & Israeli (1997), Bass and Dellana (1996), Chiz- mar (1994), and Ord (1993). Each of these studies adds a dimension to the research data, but the fundamentals of the learning process investigated were the

acquisition and retention of text material.

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A small amount of work has dealt with

the direct application of TQM to the learning process at the individual learner’s level. Here the major benefits of TQM came not from working harder, but from eliminating waste and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the learning process itself (Roberts, 1995). Related TQM approaches that have been researched include (a) the study of cus- tomer needs in terms of learning styles (Fincher, 1994; Kaha, 1995; Sims &

Sims, 1995), (b) assessments (Roberto- Simpson, 1995), and (c) the provision of meaningful feedback to students (Angel0

& Cross, 1993). All of these studies addressed areas in which information given to students as feedback could help the individual learner improve his or her learning efficiency.

A TQM Approach to Learning and Retention

One of the most important contributions of TQM is the process/system view of work. In this article, the work is the tasks of learning. Typical college students, especially underprepared ones, do not view learning as a knowable, mea- surable, systematic process, but rather as

a random, haphazard, unsystematic set of

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MarcWApril2003 181

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preparation activities. Far too often, the

average student will

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try “massed learning,” such as cramming on the night

before an exam, usually with poor to mediocre results. Such poor results should not surprise anyone, as the human mind requires spaced, repetitive learning trials to effectively process information

into long-term storage (LTS) (Atkinson

& Schiffrin, 1968; Wickelgren, 1977). Many students might be able to esti- mate roughly the number of hours spent studying for an exam, but this measure would not offer much preci- sion concerning the actual amount of time spent in efficient contact with the material. Though a student may have

an indication of the overall

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effective-

ness of his or her learning in an exam

score, the typical student has little or no idea of the eficiency of that learn- ing process expressed as a numerical quantity. The use of a TQM approach can provide the learner with a quantitative measure of learning efficiency as well as a method to use to improve the learning process.

Several relevant factors affect this process. First, a TQM technique is suit- able for reading courses but would be less appropriate for learning skills such as math. However, reading courses account for the bulk of most undergraduate programs. Second, the testing format used in developing this technique was short-answer objective tests. Though no data using multiple-choice testing have been recorded, it is probable that a TQM technique would work for that format also. Third, a TQM technique may be more appropriate for visual learners (about 80% of population) than auditory

learners (about 20% of population).

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A TQM Outlining and Feedback Process

In the classroom, we use an outlining and feedback process similar to the continuous improvement process used in industry. As a first step, we outline the text assignment to condense the essen- tials into the shortest possible form without losing vital information. The outline then replaces the original text as the learning information base, and the learning process becomes a process of mastery of the outline through spaced

182 Journal

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of Education for Business

repetition. Then we compare a tally of the number of repetitions of the material with the exam score earned. This feedback allows individual learners to fine-tune their learning process to their own individual requirements.

Outlining Method

The initial step in learning any mass of textbook material is to read the chapter summary, chapter outline, or chapter objectives first. The logic is to provide an advance organizer (Ausubel, 1968, 1978), which focuses attention and engages the related existing cognitive structures in the learner’s mind (LTS). The second part of this technique is building a standard hierarchical outline of the text to be learned, usually an intact textbook chapter. Much of the structure of this outline can be drawn directly from the text or its internal headings and titles. The modal number of pages in current textbook chapters seems to be approximately 25, and a great deal of this content is explanatory or clarification material such as graphs, charts, and pictures. This extra information is useful because it facilitates the learner’s initial understanding of the concepts and other information con- tained in the text, but it is not really nec- essary after that.

Once the essential information from the chapter is understood, the learner’s task changes to retention of the critical portions of that material. Usually those critical portions can be compressed significantly into an outline, and this reduction in text volume makes retention easier. We initially recommend a reduction ratio of approximately 5 to 1-that is, five pages of text information for one page of outline. Thus, the 25 pages in the typical chapter become five pages of outline, and a test on six chapters, which would have been 150 pages of material, is reduced to a much less daunting 30 pages of outline. Explanatory notes, dia- grams, and mnemonics can be included as desired by the learner.

This TQM outlining technique could be an effective way for the student to translate the text author’s information into his or her own language structures and thought patterns while reducing the volume of material. This makes the

smaller overall mass of material easier to assimilate into long-term memory because the learner can attach the concepts from the text to his or her existing cognitive structures.

Students using the TQM outlining technique often have been able to improve their test performance by at least one letter grade, sometimes sub- stantially more. We also explain to students that an exam grade is better understood as an output measure of the student’s preparation processes for that exam than as a measure of intelli- gence or other abstract abilities. This is particularly important for the underprepared student. I n addition, we recommend outlining to students as a method for improving their study habits and the efficiency of their preparation processes. We draw analo- gies between the use of the TQM outlining technique and the use of the process improvement methodologies of W. Edwards Deming (1986) and other researchers who have influenced major industries worldwide.

Reinforcement and Learning

One well-established principle in learning is that the human learning process requires spaced practice or repetition for effective storage of material in the learner’s LTS. Over the last cen- tury alone, modern education has for- gotten and rediscovered this basic truth many times. Effective education and training usually require such repetition for lasting effect (Gregory, 1884). Spaced repetition is also required to facilitate efficient retrieval from LTS (Kintsch, 1974).

Students initially exposed to the TQM outlining technique described above usually underestimate the number ’of repetitions of the material required for a high level of recall testing performance. In our experience, students questioned closely will usually admit to

covering the massed textbook chapter information only “a couple of times” or “a few times” before an exam, often the night before. The material itself usually consists of highlighted text material still in the original textbook format. Natural- ly, this sort of inefficient massed practice usually leads to inferior perfor-

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mance on recall measures and low-to- average performance on recognition (multiple-choice) measures.

The TQM outlining technique em- phasizes spaced practice (repetitions). Long-term retention of material requires repetition of the outline. A typical college test covers more than five textbook chapters. Thus, when outlining chapter 2, the student will review the outline for chapter 1; when outlining chapter 3, he or she will review those for chapters 1 and 2; and so on. We strongly emphasize that the number of repetitions required for high test score performance is often much larger than many students would have predicted. We usually explain that it would take most faculty members a considerable number of repetitions, perhaps 10 or more, to master text material, so the students should not be surprised if a large

number of repetitions might be neces-

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sary for them as well.

Quantitative Measure

A performance-enhancing feature of the TQM outlining technique is the use of a tally method by the students so that they can keep track of the number of times they go over the material (repetitions). This tally serves as a quantitative measure of the individual’s learning efficiency. This feature is quite simple and user-friendly. At exam time, the student has a record of the number of repetitions carried out on the material.

This tally has relevance in two areas. First, the tally can be related to the student’s exam score, giving the student a direct quantitative measure of the effectiveness of his or her preparation process. Second, over time the student can determine his or her individual learning curve; that is, how many repetitions result in a particular grade. Given new material to cover, the student will be reasonably sure that he or she can achieve a desired grade in a known number of repetitions. This technique is a real confidence builder for students who have not been performing to their potential, and it can make learning more efficient for the already high-performing student who can fine-tune his or her

own learning processes.

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Hypotheses

We sought to investigate the follow- ing hypotheses:

1. The TQM outlining process that we have described actually improves student performance on examinations.

2. A positive relationship exists between the number of repetitions repre- sented by the tally and the student’s exam score.

If the TQM outlining process significantly improves student performance on examinations, then students who want to improve their exam scores may want to practice it. Likewise, students can determine for themselves the number of repetitions needed to earn a desired score, knowing that additional repetitions have the potential to improve that score.

Method

We tested our hypotheses by adminis- tering a short questionnaire to students in the management principles course:

1. Did you use the outlining process? (Yes or No)

2.How many times did you review

your outline? (-

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number of repetitions) In addition to the students’ responses to

these questions, we kept a record of their exam scores.

Over the 2-year period from spring 2000 to spring 2002, we obtained a total of 332 sets of responses and exam scores These data are the basis for our analyses.

Results

We computed the mean exam scores for the students who used the TQM outlining process and the mean exam scores for those who did not. Two hun- dred and thirty-three students used the process, and 99 did not. Those who used

it attained a mean exam score of 79.10,

with an

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sd of 13.25. Those who did not use the process attained a mean score of

66.7, with an sd of 19.19.

We conducted a t test for the signifi- cance of the difference between the means. The result was a t value of +6.74 with a p = .0001. Use of the TQM outlining process significantly improved the students’ performance on the exam.

We examined the data further to deter-

mine whether the number of repetitions influenced the exam score the students received. Only the students who used the

process were included in this analysis

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(n

= 233). The first step of this analysis involved grouping the students’ responses by standard grade interval. The second step was to compute the mean scores for each grade interval and the mean number of repetitions for each grade interval. These data are summarized in Figure 1.

The 95% confidence intervals i n number of repetitions for each of the mean exam scores were as follows: For a score of A, the corresponding number of repetitions was 6.52-8.59; for a score of B, the number of repetitions was

5.11-6.79; for

C, the number was 4 . 3 6 6.72; for D, 3.05-4.07; and for F,

2.74-5.64. These data indicate that to earn an A, a student would expect to review his or her outline between 6 and 9 times; to earn a “B,” he or she would review 5 to 7 times; and so on. Although there was some overlap between the confidence intervals for the D and F

grades, overall, the grade earned was a clear function of the number of times that the students repeated the TQM outlining process, with higher grades corresponding to more repetitions.

We also performed a correlation analysis (Pearson r ) to determine the strength and direction of the association between the number of repetitions and the exam grade earned. The Pearson r was +0.275, and the t statistic was +4.33 1, indicating a significant positive relationship at the p = ,0001 level. This result indicates that a direct and positive relationship exists between the exam score earned and the number of repetitions completed in preparation for the exam. We note, however, that the r value was not especially strong. This might be attributed to some contamination of the data reported by the students. Some of them may have reported what they thought the instructor expected, or some may have tracked their number of repetitions inaccurately. These factors may also explain the overlap in the confidence intervals for the lowest grades.

Limitations

Although the total sample size was reasonable, we acknowledge that our

MarcWApril2003 183

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W avg grades

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80

70

60

50

40 30

20

10

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A s B s

Cs

Ds F s 93.6 84.59 75 65.22 50.14

Inavg#repetiions

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7.56

I

5.95

I

5.49

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3.96

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4.19

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FIGURE 1. Average grade earned and average number of repetitions completed.

data were from students enrolled only in the management principles course. We would have to examine use of the method in other courses before making broad generalizations about its effectiveness across a variety of subjects. Neverthe- less, we believe that our study establish- es a clear trend and encourage other researchers to validate our results in other college courses. Furthermore, this technique may have some value in teaching students at the secondary school level

and in other school environments.

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Conclusion

Our study indicates that the use of the TQM outlining method improves performance on examinations and that the grade earned is a function of the number of repetitions of the process. This is encouraging information for the student and the professor. When students under-

stand this connection, they rely less on haphazard, last-minute studying and more on consistent and thorough prepa- ration. Studying involves a process that, if followed, can provide positive feedback. This is a powerful lesson for many students, who may attain higher GPAs

by applying the method to other courses. It is also encouraging to the professor, who has added confidence in rec- ommending the method to students, in view of its demonstrated success.

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