BY: PARTHA PAUL

ECE, 2ND YEAR,

ROLL:09102003032
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is a pleasure to acknowledge the assistance receives from several individuals during

the preparation of TECHNICAL REPORT. I am greatly indebted to Miss
ANAMITRA CHATTERJEE , PROFESSOR OF HUMANITY DIPARTMENT,
KGEC to inspire about this technical report. I am also thankful to NIMAI PAUL,
ASSISTANCE OF CAD LAB OF ECE DEPARTMENT, KGEC for internet
facility that helps me to collect data about the subject of this report. Heartiest thanks to
Mr. ACHINTYA DAS; H.O.D. OF ECE DEPARTMENT, KGEC for gave me
permission for internet being used. I am much obliged to my FRIEND & seniors
(belongs to my mess) for their help. At last I owe a debt of gratitude to my FATHER
& MOTHER for their patience and understanding. I want to DEDICATE this
TEACHNICAL REPORT to my FATHER& MOTHER.

SUBMITTED BY: PARTHA PAUL

(STUDENT OF ECE, 2nd YEAR,

ROLL NO: 09102003032);

 preface

S peaking power is the power of life. To make

communication with other we must have an ability to
speak with other via. a medium through gestures or
words and for that reason needs study. As we spend every
day in our life we are become closer to modern tough
competition. The age was started with “RAMAYANA” and
approached through exercise books and now we are reached
to the digital age where we can’t think our motion without
computer.
Earth bears uncounted number of animal, but human
being is most talented than other and they serves the whole
world and that is really happened as they are mentally ahead
than other animal, and it is possible as humans had their
own thought. Human being always bussy into their work to
give a real look of their thought. But as years rolling we
discovered new technology as a gift of science. Now one
question is coming through the word “discover”, what
does it mean? Why we are always negotiate ourselves
into the fact? The basic region is that we are human
character very much lazy, all-time rest is our only
destination, that’s why we are hurry to make practical look
of our thoughts that easily done our job without any cost.
But now a day students, peoples are very much innovative
they grows up into the local habitude where their thoughts
always permits them to copy it into their notebook for
future requirement. This the only reason that we are going
to lost our remembering capabilities, and this can be easily
proved by showing an example:”when mobile is not so
much available into market we are normal people tried to
remember many contact numbers, but now we trying to
save these numbers…”
There are another lot of reason behind the fact
that “The loss of reading habit among the youth of
population.” We make a survey on the fact and show the
ultimate results throughout the report.
 INTRODUCTION

The effectiveness of inquiry based learning (IBL) has been the subject of numerous
Studies, and the general acceptance of its value has led the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region (HKSAR) Education Bureau to include IBL in its policy changes for
primary education. However, few local schools have successfully integrated an IBL
approach within their curricula. In view of this, further studies on implementation of effective
IBL approach in local schools and its impact on students are warranted. This paper is part
of a larger study investigating a collaborative instructional approach; four kinds of teaching
staff1 provided various kinds of support to Primary Four2 (P4) students in a local Hong Kong
school in the completion of their IBL projects. About 150 students completed two General
Studies’ group projects, each lasting 2-3 months, from December 2006 to June 2007. The
main theme for the first project was “The Earth” and the second “History of Hong Kong and
Mainland China”. For each theme, students chose their own sub-area to work on. The
teaching staff involved played different roles in guiding students through the projects. The IT
teachers helped enhance students’ IT literacy (e.g. skills of using Microsoft Excel and
PowerPoint), the General Studies teachers focused on teaching research skills (e.g.
formulating essential questions and organizing data gathered for the projects), and the
Chinese teachers helped students develop the necessary reading and writing abilities for
the completion of their projects. Meanwhile, the school librarian assisted in sharpening
students’ information literacy skills (e.g. doing searches on a news database and in the
public library catalog). Figure 1 presents the model of this IBL approach and the various
dimensions measured for improvement. This paper reports on student improvement in
reading abilities as a result of the inquiry-based learning projects. Moreover, through
working on research topics of their own interest, students are motivated to read more
relevant materials. It is therefore suggested that the IBL approach would also bring positive
changes to student attitudes towards reading. The possible relationship between reading
ability and reading attitude will be examined in the later part of this paper.

METHODOLOGY

The main research questions of this study include:

What are the key elements of reading ability?

Is the IBL approach taken in the study effective in helping students achieve a
higher level of reading ability?

Would the IBL approach bring changes to students’ attitude towards reading?
 EVATUATION METHOD

The students took the reading test from Progress in International Reading Literacy
Study (PIRLS) 5 before and after the completion of the two IBL projects. Their performances
before and after working on the two projects would be recorded and compared. Besides,
students also filled in the PIRLS’s survey on their reading habits, attitudes, and interests. This
paper focuses on the changes in students’ reading ability. Some discussion would be based on
findings from the survey on their reading attitude in the later part of this paper.

The test on students’ reading ability focused on two aspects: (I) process of reading
comprehension, and (ii) reading and understanding different reading materials. Students are
required to employ various reading processes, include focus on specific aspects of text, make
simple and more complex inferences, interpret and integrate ideas and information, and
examine and evaluate text features. Two types of reading materials were included in the test
battery: literary materials such as stories or fables in which pupils read for enjoyment, and
informational materials such as scientific descriptions or manuals which pupils had to read for
information (Mullis, Kennedy, Martin & Sainsbury, 2006). Because both types of reading
experiences (literary and informational) are important for the reading development of pupils, the
reading test battery consisted of one literary passage and one informational passage. Pupils
had 40 minutes to answer questions on the first passage, rested for 10 minutes then took
another 40 minutes on the second passage of text. Total test scores for each pupil were
estimated using the Item Response Theory (IRT) Model (Lord, 1980) based on the responses
of each pupil to the test items. The computer program PARSCALE 4 (Murky & Bock, 2003) was
used in the estimation of the IRT scores of pupils. The IRT scores were scaled to a mean of
500 (Martin, Mullis & Kennedy, 2003). SPSS was used to conduct parametric tests on the data.

Besides, students, teachers and parents were surveyed with another questionnaire
between phase 1 and phase 2 after students had completed their first project. By doing so, the
effectiveness of the IBL approach in phase 1 could be evaluated and changes could be made
when necessary. This survey would also be a supplement for PIRLS since teachers and
parents were not surveyed with PIRLS in this study.
 DISCUSSION
In the whole survey behind the fact “The loss of reading habit among the youth of population” we came to
know and collect some specific reason on the fact. When youth faces their books (it may be exam books or other)
they became challenged by few question that helps to loss their interest. There are----

** Do you think, in Digital age books are less interested for youths?

** Now a day, which process of education can attract our mind?

** Students have enough time to follow their books in regular basis?

** Do you think other systems become challenge for educational system?

** Do you feel, over 90% students are lost their mind when they become familiar with huge syllabus in a
short time?

** Do you follow; sometime students are unable to understand the teachers’ view point?

To make our survey through the above questions we are going though different type of students and catch their
opinion. Through this investigation to discover the fact we found----

1. Students are always concerned about new upcoming technology that provide them new thought on the fact
and opened a new sight of the techniques. Today everyone trying to beat other, competition forces to everyone to be
advanced, at that time computer is only useful device and internet is a unic media where people can very easily
familiar with the whole world in a short time. That’s why many books lost their priority. Now if you consider me I
am much helped by internet to access some ideas on report’s topic.

2. INDIA is now a advanced country where education means “e-learning” that make a lot of attraction in the
youths’ mind (e.g. if teacher want to read the Frictional Force, then it is easier to understand for the students if any
video or picture familiar with our regular life is present by the teacher, and therefore students are able to keep the
both theoretical and practical knowledge in a very short time.).

3. Before 50 years education is the only medium to the future into the lightning stage. But now a day SPORTS,
BUISNESS, NET is very interesting chapter to earn lot of money. Games cross its’ popularity limit and it that kind
of job where players got frame from their supporter, so everybody trying to achieve it. For that reason is a big part
within a few percent of youth.
 4. Educational system type is havoc for students. Universities follow semester system where short time
prescribes huge syllabus. At that time neither students perfectly able to understand nor they score high in the exam.

Someone said that “good student is not a good teacher, but good teacher is also a good student”.
Everyone has their own point of view, sometimes teacher trying to realize one thing, but student couldn’t able to
recall it, so misunderstanding one of the basic wire of fuse regarding the loss of interest.

WHO READS?

The short answer to who reads is just about everyone. This is the case in the
West and Japan, and is increasingly the case in the developing world. Polls show that
most Americans and Europeans read during their leisure time. In a “normal day,” people
report spending an average of over a half hour reading magazines, close to three quarters
of an hour reading newspapers, and over an hour reading books; moreover, the
overwhelming majority report reading some from all three categories of reading each day.
Books involve the heaviest time commitment. Although a quarter of people do not read
any books in a typical day, more than half read books for over an hour. In 1998, when
the General Social Survey asked if respondents had “read novels, short stories, poems, or
plays, other than those required by work or school” during the past twelve months, 70%
reported that they had (Gen. Soc. Serve. 1998).
People think they ought to read even more. More than nine out of ten are
convinced that reading is “a good use of your time” (Gallup Org. 1990, question 23).
And they think they ought to be able to read more, for very few people find reading “too
hard to do” (Gallup Org. 1990, question 48b). They expect to read more in the future.
When asked, “Do you think you’ll find yourself reading more in the months and years
ahead, reading less, or is the amount of reading you do probably going to stay the same,”
45% said more, 3% less, and 51% the same (Gallup Org. 1990, question 24). People
particularly intend to read more materials that are educational or will improve their lives,
such as nonfiction books, newspapers, and the Bible. A British survey finds that people
actually believe they are reading more. “Despite competition from new media, and
increasing pressure on people’s leisure time, relatively few people think they are reading
books less now than five years ago. Most (80%) claim to be reading about the same or
more” (Book Mark. Ltd. 2000, p. 9). Most Britons report that the only thing that would
Make them read more is having more leisure time.
The demographic characteristics of readers have remained constant: Reading is
associated above all with education. This association is the case worldwide. A 20-country
survey concludes that “formal educational attainment is the main determinant of literacy
proficiency. For 17 of the 20 countries it is both the first and the strongest predictor”
(OECD Stat. Can. 2000, p. 58). In addition to education level, reading is associated with
affluence (affluent people read more), race (whites read more than African Americans or
Hispanics), gender (women read more than men), and place of residence (suburbanites
read more than rural or inner city residents) (Book Mark. Ltd. 2000, NEA 2004; see also
Cushman et al. 1996 for the universality of the gender difference).
Historically, reading by the populace at large began as a metropolitan
phenomenon. Cities that were commercial or administrative centers—Shanghai, Lagos,
Moscow—have led the rest of their respective countries in the literacy and print
revolutions, although more strictly industrial cities have lagged behind the others (Brooks
1985, Furet & Ozouf 1982, Griswold 2000, Link 1981). Men gain literacy first, but when
this difference evens out, women read more.
Another universal pattern is that as soon as a popular reading culture gets
established, commentators start worrying about the decline of reading. Headlines from
China’s People’s Daily report that “Chinese People Read Less,” according to a new survey
(People’s Daily Online 2004). Educated Africans bemoan that the reading cultures of the
late colonial and early independence period are decaying (Griswold 2000). Such worries,
regardless of their basis in reality, suggest the value accorded to the practice of reading.
In the United States, the impact of race and ethnicity on reading is striking and
troubling. To cite just one of many studies, the 2004 National Endowment of the Arts
(NEA) survey found that 26% of Hispanics, 37% of African Americans, and 51% of
white Americans read literature. This pattern holds for every educational and income
level and every age. Women read more than men in each race/ethnicity category. White
women have by far the highest reading rate (61%), followed by white men and African
American women (41% and 43%, respectively). Hispanic (18%) and African American
(30%) men read the least (NEA 2004, table 9, p. 11). The NEA study confirms earlier
work that suggested that African Americans and Hispanics read less regardless of income
or education (DiMaggio & Sorrowed 1992). The recent growth of African American
“chick-lit” suggests that black women’s reading may move closer to that of white women
(Lee 2004).
Reading starts early. Two thirds of Americans report that they started reading by
age seven (Gallup Org. 1990, question 42). Parents read to their children even during
their first year of life; most have started this reading by the time their child is three, and
often continue (or even begin) during the years when the children can read by themselves
(Gallup Org. 1990, questions 44, 48).
A national survey of children’s media use conducted by Roberts and the Kaiser
Family Foundation looked at the media habits of 1090 young (2–7) children and 2014
older (8–18) children (Roberts & Fehr 2004). They found that children averaged 45
minutes per day in recreational reading, which included being read to for the younger
group. Most kids—between 80% and 90%—read at least some every day, and a good
percentage (49% for 2- to 7-year-olds and 42% for 8- to 18-year-olds) read more than 30
minutes each day. Recreational reading drops in the late teenage years (ages 15–18) down
to 34%. But by ages 15–18, more than half of kids are looking at a newspaper for at least
5 minutes, and a comparison with past research shows that “the proportion of U.S.
children and adolescents who do so [read newspapers] has remained fairly constant over
the past 50 years” (Roberts & Fehr 2004, p. 99). Overall reading time declines with age,
and this decline is entirely due to a drop in reading books.
As youngsters move from elementary school into middle and high school, they
are typically asked to engage in a good deal more school-related reading than was
formerly the case, a factor that probably reduces both desire and time to read outside
school. In addition, during late adolescence, myriad additional activities vie for young
people’s time—sports, extracurricular activities, social events, earning a driver’s license,
part-time jobs, dating. . . . As seems to be the case for no interactive screen media then,
leisure time print exposure is also related to available time, and available time is related to
age (Roberts & Fehr 2004, pp. 100–1).
They note that it makes sense that book, which require a relatively large
commitment of time, would be affected more than magazines or newspapers (which
actually increase).
A strong association exists between parents’ education and their children’s print
exposure. Taking all ages together, Roberts & Fehr (2004) find that “statistically
significant differences related to education emerge for each of the three individual print
media. Youths whose parents completed no more than high school spend less time with
all print, particularly books” (p. 103). Figure 1 shows that the primary difference in print
exposure is between children whose parents have a high school education or less and
children whose parents have at least some college education.
Roberts & Fehr (2004) conclude that both physical and social environments are
related to youth reading, with the social environment being the more powerful. The
physical environment includes access (printed materials in home, magazine subscriptions)
and income. The social environment includes parents’ education (most important) and
television orientation (negative relation to print use). “Finally, in spite of claims to the
contrary . . . there is little evidence that young people’s leisure reading has changed much
over the past half-century. . . . If anything, the averages we found are a bit higher than
those that seem to have held for some time. Perhaps the increasing number of magazines
aimed at children and adolescents and such children’s book phenomena as the recent
Harry Potter craze may be helping reading gain a bit” (Roberts & Fehr 2004, p. 112).
The same seems to be the case in England. A 1994 survey of 8000 English
children ages 10, 12, and 14 found that since 1971, reading for most categories of
children had either increased or remained steady (Hall & Coles 1999).

They found that the children’s attitude toward reading was positive, and most
reported them to be good readers. Two thirds of the sample reported doing some reading
the previous evening. As in the United States there was a relationship between
socioeconomic background and number of books read; more advantaged kids read more.
If they receive the same education (which is often not the case, especially in
many African and Muslim countries), girls read more and better than boys. This gender
advantage seems to be true universally. Research comparing children’s reading in 32
countries shows girls to be consistently ahead of boys in their reading abilities (Wage
maker 1996, table 7, p. 34). A survey of British children shows gender differences appear
very early. When the survey asked, “How often do you read story books?” to very young
children (ages 4–7), 67.6% of girls but only 55.5% of boys responded “very often” or
“often”; by ages 7–11 the responses had gone up for both sexes, with 80.5% girls and
68.6% boys claiming to read often or very often (Children’s Lit. Res. Cent. 1996, p. 60).
Reading by both sexes declined in the early teenage years, but the decline in boys’ reading
was sharper as they moved into adolescence. When 11- to 13-year-old children were
asked, “How often do you read fiction?” 65.8% of girls and 52.6% of boys reported often
or very often; by ages 14–16, the girls had dropped to 56.5% and the boys to 38.6%.
Another survey of English children suggests that reading increased significantly for all 10-
year-olds and for 12-year-old girls between 1971 and 1994, whereas reading for 14-year-
old boys had decreased significantly (Hall & Coles 1999).
Alarming reports suggest, however, that reading may be in decline. Although this
has been a concern for decades, a recent study commissioned by the NEA that compared
reading in 1982, 1992, and 2002 shows a steady decline in reading, especially the reading
of literature and especially among young adults (NEA 2004; for earlier evidence of the
small proportion of readers who do “literary reading”— poetry, drama, serious fiction—
see Zell & Wangle 1990).
A comparable long-term study in the Netherlands paints a similar picture (Knurls
& Kraaykamp 1997, 1998). Survey data in that country over four decades (1955–1995)
shows a steady decline in leisure reading, contrary to expectations of those who predicted
reading would go up with increased education. While the percentage of Dutch who read
books during the week declined, “the people who did read newspapers and books in
1995 . . . spent more time doing so than the larger group of readers two decades earlier.
This demonstrates that especially newspaper and book readers who spent relatively little
time reading have dropped out” (Knulst & Kraaycamp 1997, p. 137). The same
concentration effect is found in the NEA study: Heavy readers read as much or more
than ever, but more casual reading has declined.
The Dutch study suggests that heavy readers are aging and not being replaced.
Younger cohorts (post–World War II) read less at all ages; moreover, they do not read
more as they grow older the way previous cohorts did. Knulst & Kraaycamp (1997, 1998)
see television as the major reason (their study ended in 1995, before the Internet had
become ubiquitous). All groups, regardless of education, have seen an increase in
television viewing and a decrease in reading. There is a generation gap—older, highly
educated people hang on to the reading habit, but younger ones do not. Now the group
of heavy readers “largely consists of people with an intermediate and higher degree of
education from the pre-war
war cohorts.” Educated people still do the most reading, but in
younger cohorts the reading of the highly educated
ducated has declined much the same as that of
their less-educated peers.

CHILDREN’S AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S READING

HABITS AND PREFERENCES
THE WHO, WHAT, WHY, WHERE AND WHEN

PICTORIAL DESCRIPTION

FIG. 2.1: READING ENJOYMENT:

ENJOYMENT
Very much (22.3%) not at all (10.9%)

Quite a lot (28.7%)

28.7%)

A bit (38.0%)
 When asked how often they read outside of school, the majority of pupils stated
reading “Every day or almost every day”, while a third of pupils read outside of school
Once or twice a week” (see Figure 2.2). Roughly a sixth of pupils reported that they
Never or almost never” read outside of school, while a similar proportion of children
only read outside of school “Once or twice a month”.

FIG. 2.2: HOW OFTEN DO YOU READ OUTSIDE SCHOOL?

EVERY DAY OR ALMOST

EVERYDAY
38.1%

ONCE OR TWICE A
WEEK
31.8%

ONCE OR TWICE A
MONTH
14.7%

NEVER OR ALMOST
NEVER
15.4%

Pupils were also asked whether they thought that they were reading enough (see
Figure 2.3). Almost half the pupils felt that they were reading enough. Moreover, a hired
of pupils felt that they were not currently reading enough but would like to read ore.
However, a fifth of pupils believed that they were not reading enough but they also did
not want to be reading more.
 FIG. 2.3: DO YOU THINK YOU READ ENOUGH?

YES 47.2%

NO, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO 32.3%

NO, AND I DON’T TO 20.1%

Pupils were asked to indicate their agreement or disagreement with nine

attitudinal statements on a scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree;
see Figure 2.4). Agreement with the statements that reading is important, that they read
outside school, and that they would not mind receiving books as presents was generally
high. By contrast, pupils tended to disagree with the statement that reading is more for
girls than boys, which is contrary to some studies that show that boys perceive reading to
be a female activity (e.g. Wragg, 1997). Pupils also disagreed with the statements that
reading is boring, that reading is hard, that they cannot find books that interest them, and
that they do not read as well as other students in their class.
 FIG. 2.4: ATTITUDES TOWARDS READING?

READING IS FOR GIRLS

READING IS BORING

READING IS HARD

READING IS IMPORTANT

NO INTERESTING BOOKS

READ OUTSIDE SCHOOL

LIKE LIBRARIES

BOOKS AS PRESENTS

OTHERS READ BETTER

1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0

Strongly Neutral Strongly
Disagree Agree

In addition, they were asked to indicate which of 12 activities would prompt them and
others to read more (see Figure 2.5). Designing websites/magazines, meeting
authors/celebrities and reading games were the most frequently chosen reading promotion
activities. Rating books and writing book reviews were the least frequently chosen activities.
FIG. 2.5: WHICH ACTIVITIES WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO TO HELP
YOURSELF AND OTHERS READ MORE?

Designing websites 51.3%

Meeting authors 40.9%

Reading games 40.0%

Helping children 39.6%

Prizes/Competition 36.4%

Reading groups 32.9%

Designing lib displays 30.1%

Reading for charity 28.4%

Choosing library stock 28.1%

Talking about books 26.8%

Writing book reviews 20.9%

Rating books 18.5%

Boys estimated that they have more books at home than girls (see Table). However, more
girls than boys stated having books of their own and having access to magazines (see Figure
2.6). These results are in line with previous studies, which have shown that more girls than boys
report owning their own books (e.g. Hall and Coles, 1999). Both boys and girls reported equal
access to a computer, a desk of their own, and a daily newspaper.
Table: Estimated number of books in the home by gender

Books Boys Girls

At home

None 1.6 0.8

1-10 8.1 7.7
11-50 17.9 21.4
51-100 21.4 23.5
101-250 21.3 21.0
251-500 16.2 14.2
>500 13.5 11.4

FIG. 2.6: ACCESS TO RESOURCES

91%
Computer 91%

73%
Desk of your own 73%

87%
Books of your own 92%

Daily Newspaper 70%

72%

82%
Magazines 87%

BOYS GIRLS
Boys
 FIG. 2.7: I WOULD READ MORE IF……

I had more time 47.4%

I enjoyed it more 40.4%
Books were cheaper 37.4%

About interesting subject 36.5%

Books had more pictures 26.9%

I knew what to read 25.0%

Libraries were better 20.9%

Stories were shorter 20.1%
Libraries were close 18.3%

I found reading easier 15.8%

My friends read more 16.1%

My school encouraged me 13.3%

My family encouraged me 12.8%
Someone read aloud to me 12.7%

I had better eyesight 10.2%

Figure 2.7 shows that almost two in five pupils also said that they would be more likely
to read if they found subjects that were of interest to them. Better eyesight and someone
reading aloud were the least frequently chosen options.
Other research has shown that secondary pupils in particular believe that time-
constraints, caused by pressures such as homework, interfere with their opportunities to read
(e.g. Pearson, 2003). Indeed, there was a small positive association between age and choice of
this option (r = .141, p = .000). However, it could also be argued that referring to a lack of time is
an excuse. In support of this, there was a negative association in this study between reading
enjoyment and ticking time constraints (r = -.285, p = .000), indicating that those who enjoy
reading were less likely to tick this option than pupils who do not enjoy reading. Thus, this
suggests that pupils will make time for an activity they enjoy.
CONCLUSION:
It is very difficult to make an ultimate speech about “THE READING HABIT AMONG
THE YOUTH OF POPULATIONS”.

Through the whole survey we are ten members team faced a lot of worries within different
types of students in different regions. Students show their verities problems that weren’t fulfilled, really
they want. I already mentioned all the causes though bar graphs in the discussion part. But one thing is
clear that as per times rolling up pupils have lot of tendency to meet with new strategy, at that situation
DIGITAL AGE is more affective to turn around the mind into new technology. Other thing I lost to
mention that everything has both advantages side by side disadvantages, so at that moment television
(today technology refers 3D picture quality which is more attractive for teen eyes.) play a major rule to
abuse the lifetime. Some TV serials matured the mentality of the teenagers and they lost their mind into
the reading books though they show they are in the books, but their mind isn’t there it busy into past
spend times. Similarly though computer is a advanced part of our life some programming like- Gaming,
make a huge waste of time, if we thought is it our destiny then result easily comes out, but we don’t do
so because our miser mind doesn’t give permission. Actually we lost our reading habit is our failure.

Reading habit is our identity. To maintain balance with time authority and media should be
concerned about the modern demands, because this is the only way to return the reading habits among
the youth. Today students are very advanced and they never depend on one criterion, so at that situation
my personal opinion refers e-learning method.