Using Technology to Increase Readability of Instructional Materials

Presented by:

Amy Wagler & Larry Lesser, The University of Texas at El Paso

Abstract

Accessibility of written text is one factor that affects how effectively statistics students make connections with a learning resource (e.g., see our paper in the January 2015 Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, jtw.sagepub.com/content/45/1/31.full.pdf). We will give attendees an experiential motivation and then demonstrate and facilitate interaction with readily available applications which explore the readability of any written instructional resource. The session uses readily-available tools such as LexTutor, Coh-Metrix, and readability statistics in Microsoft Word. Participants will have the opportunity to incorporate the results of the analysis into a revision of a piece of statistical text. A handout with key resources and references will be provided.

Materials

Recording

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