Is Membean Worth Your Time?

Membean is a tool used to improve students’ vocabulary. High-school English teacher Phillip Webster stated, “It expands their passive and active vocabulary. Passive vocabulary being their reading and active vocabulary being their speaking and writing.” Membean introduces words and uses a variety of techniques such as questions, pictures, word maps to help students retain them. Teachers assign weekly requirements to students and is often graded as a formative or an ATL (Approaches To Learning). There are numerous students and teachers who believe Membean is beneficial, while there are also many that think it is a waste of time.

Before using Membean, AISG used to assign workbooks, which are paper and pen methods of memorizing vocabulary. According to Mr. Webster, “[It] took a lot more class time and work,” which is why our school switched to using Membean. It is a more individual system, allowing students at different levels to go through vocabulary at their own pace.

A survey was sent out to high-school students at AISG, in order to give students an opportunity to share their thoughts on Membean. Out of 48 responses, 12 students thought that Membean is worth their time, while 17 students expressed that it is a waste of their time. 19 were neutral about the topic. The Membean word database is constructed using a rigorous process from multiple areas, including The College Board Vocabulary Study, which means that vocabulary provided by Membean is credible and useful to a student learning English and studying for tests like SAT.

Sophomore Emily A. does not enjoy doing Membean but understands its worthiness and benefits. She stated, “I definitely think that it has been teaching me words that I didn’t otherwise know, and it has definitely improved my writing.”

There were a number of positive comments about Membean, and how it has improved one’s vocabulary, writing and reading skills. An anonymous respondent of the survey said, “I’ve been realizing that reading has become easier because many of the books I read include many Membean words. Furthermore, I have also been using Membean words in my day to day writing.”

Many students however, also responded to “In which ways is Membean essential and useful?” with “not applicable.”

A study commissioned by the U.S Board of Education stated, “The amount of free reading done outside of school has consistently been found to relate to growth in vocabulary, reading comprehension, verbal fluency, and general information. Students who read independently become better readers, score higher on achievement tests in all subject areas, and have greater content knowledge than those who do not.” Individual reading also helps improve one’s vocabulary and reading skills, and it seems like many students would rather spend their time reading than doing Membean. However, according to Mr. Webster, who has been teaching students with and without Membean, he has seen many cases of students improving drastically, writing wise and reading wise, with the help of Membean.

Many will argue that Membean is a waste of time, but in most cases, it is because they are not actually putting effort into it. According to an anonymous respondent, “Many times when I don’t want to do Membean, I will often just click random buttons and guess.” If one takes Membean seriously, they might actually see improvements among themselves.

What do you think? Should students be required to do Membean?