Using the Cloze Test to Predicate College Biology Grades

Tests exist to predict a student's success in college mathematics and other subjects, but there appear to be none to predict success in biology. Discussions with colleagues indicated that the ability to recall sensory images may be critical to "seeing" biology. The cloze procedure is an ubiquitous device that can supposedly measure the readability of material, assist in the diagnosis of reading problems and then provide the means for effective reading instruction (Bormuth 1964; Neie 1972). The cloze procedure has been the subject of extensive research since it was developed by W. L. Taylor in 1953. The obvious appeal is the ease of cloze construction and scoring. Extraneous language variables may be excluded and the procedure may be adapted to those specific reading materials being used to teach a particular topic. It seemed to me that visualization and vocabulary are prerequisites to understanding biology. For this cloze procedure a 260-word descriptive passage on Chlamydomonas was chosen from the College Reading Manual (Shaw & Townsend 1969). The editors had adapted the material from R. J. Shave's Plant and Animal Life and had estimated the reading difficulty, using the Dale-Chall formula, as easy college reading. Thirty single words symbolizing sensory images were deleted from the passage. Words such as green, living and oval were omitted. Each sentence of the reading had from two to four omissions that were separated by at least two words. All blank spaces on the mutilated copy were of equal length. The cloze procedure was used with two sections of introductory biology. The students in two classes were invited to participate in the experiment and told the purpose was to try to identify some skills they would need to successfully profit (pass) from this class. They were provided with unmutilated copies of the reading and allowed five minutes to read it. The passage was collected and each student given the mutilated copy. The students were instructed to fill in the blanks or even guess if their recollection was weak. They were allowed 20 minutes, then the copies were collected. At the end of the semester final grades in Biology 101 were matched with the cloze procedure scores. It appeared that there was a significant correlation between the two scores and that a 50 percent on the cloze procedure was critical to the student's success. The comparison showed that 57 percent of the "A" students had scored 60 percent or better on the cloze procedure. No one below 40 percent on cloze made an "A" and only one of these students made a "B." Of those who made "D" or "F," 62 percent had scored less than 40 percent on the cloze procedure. This procedure was repeated the following fall with 248 students. Results of the second run showed that 62 students had scored below 40 percent. Results at the end of this semester substantiated the earlier results that cloze scores of 40 percent or less correlated with grades of "D" or "F." Unpublished data from another paper based on the material showed the t-test supported the predictive value of the cloze procedure in this experiment and suggested that cloze used for the recall of sensory images may be a significant tool for predicting a student's academic success in introductory biology (Randall unpublished manuscript). Tabulations of cloze results and biology grades from both trials indicate that students with cloze scores of less than 49 percent will have trouble and will probably fail while those whose scores are above 50 percent will pass the course. Those scoring 60 percent or better should be the "A" and "B" students. These findings correspond with previous research that indicated a frustration with the material at a cloze of 49 percent or less and academic independence above 60 percent (Mork 1971). While I cannot Jean E. Pugh is professor of biology and environmental science at Christopher Newport College, 50 Shoe Lane, Newport News, VA 23606. She has a B.S. from James Madison University and a M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. She taught primarily introductory biology at Old Dominion University from 1954 to 1965. Since then she has been at Christopher Newport College, where she was named Teacher of the Year in 1986, 1968 and 1966. Her research interests focus on ostracods.