0000000000073788
AUTHOR
Ivar Bråten
Trust and mistrust when students read multiple information sources about climate change
Abstract The present study investigated how undergraduates judged the trustworthiness of different information sources that they read about climate change. Results showed that participants ( N = 128) judged information from textbook and official documents to be more trustworthy than information from newspapers and a commercial agent. Moreover, participants put most emphasis on content and least emphasis on date of publication when judging document trustworthiness. When judging the trustworthiness of the textbook, they emphasized criteria differently than when evaluating other types of documents. Results also indicated that readers low in topic knowledge were more likely to trust less trust…
Processing and learning from multiple sources: A comparative case study of students with dyslexia working in a multiple source multimedia context
This study investigated how four 10th-grade students with dyslexia processed and integrated information across web pages and representations when learning in a multiple source multimedia context. Eye movement data showed that participants’ processing of the materials varied with respect to their initial exploration of the web pages, their overall processing time, and the linearity of their processing patterns, with post-learning interviews indicating the deliberate, strategic considerations underlying each participant’s processing pattern. Eye movement data in terms of fixation duration and percentage of regressions also corroborated the findings of formal, diagnostic assessments. Finally, …
Using eye-tracking to assess sourcing during multiple document reading: A critical analysis
During the last 15 years, there have been some efforts to extend the use of eye - tracking to researching reading in complex contexts, such as the reading of multiple documents. The research community involved in this extension has been interested in higher - order comprehensio n processes occurring in complex reading contexts, such as sourcing, defined as the processes of attending to, representing, evaluating, and using available or accessible information about the sources of textual content. In this article, we argue that exte nding eye - tracking research to investigate more complex reading contexts has been made without critically reflecting on its validity in those contexts . Specific…
Who Said That? Investigating the Plausibility-Induced Source Focusing Assumption with Norwegian Undergraduate Readers
Abstract The present study investigated to what extent encountering a textual claim that contradicts one’s prior beliefs may increase readers’ memory for the source of the information, such as the author or publication. A sample of 71 Norwegian economics and administration undergraduates were presented with texts on cell phones and potential health risks that either concluded that cell phones involve serious health risks or that they are perfectly safe. Results showed that readers’ memory for source feature information increased when the conclusion of the text contradicted the belief that cell phone use poses serious health risks but not when it contradicted the belief that cell phone use d…
Effects of reading real versus print-out versions of multiple documents on students? sourcing and integrated understanding
Abstract This study investigated the extent to which students’ sourcing and comprehension can be supported by the reading of real, as opposed to print-out versions of multiple documents. It was found that the reading of real rather than print-out versions of multiple documents on the issue of climate change increased students’ memory for source information and made them include more specific references to document sources in argument essays that they wrote about the issue. In turn, such increased sourcing in essays mediated the positive effect of reading real versus print-out versions of documents on students’ construction of coherent representations of the documents’ content information. T…
Sixth graders’ selection and integration when writing from multiple online texts
AbstractThis study examined students’ ability to select relevant ideas from multiple online texts and integrate those ideas in their written products. Students (N = 162) used a web-based platform to complete an online inquiry task in which they read three texts presenting different perspectives on computer gaming and wrote an article for a school magazine on the issue based on these texts. Students selected two snippets from each text during reading and wrote their article with the selected snippets available. The selected snippets were scored according to their relevance for completing the task, and the written products were scored according to their integration quality. The results showed…
Examining the structure of credibility evaluation when sixth graders read online texts
Background Previous research indicates that students lack sufficient online credibility evaluation skills. However, the results are fragmented and difficult to compare as they are based on different types of measures and indicators. Consequently, there is no clear understanding of the structure of credibility evaluation. Objectives The present study sought to establish the structure of credibility evaluation of online texts among 265 sixth graders. Methods Students' credibility evaluation skills were measured with a task in which they read four online texts, two more credible (a popular science text and a newspaper article) and two less credible (a layperson's blog text and a commercial tex…
Summary versus argument tasks when working with multiple documents: Which is better for whom?
Abstract This article reports on two experiments where undergraduates read five documents on a scientific topic and afterwards answered comprehension questions and wrote either summaries or argument essays on the topic. In the first experiment, students who were instructed to work with the documents for the purpose of summarizing their contents displayed better comprehension and integration of document contents than did students instructed to construct arguments from the documents. In the second experiment, focusing on whether the effects of task instructions on multiple-documents comprehension and integration could be moderated by students’ prior knowledge, it was found that only students …
Understanding and Integrating Multiple Science Texts: Summary Tasks are Sometimes Better Than Argument Tasks
One of the major challenges of a knowledge society is that students as well as other citizens must learn to understand and integrate information from multiple textual sources. Still, task and reader characteristics that may facilitate or constrain such intertextual processes are not well understood by researchers. In this study, we compare the effects of summary and argument essay tasks when undergraduates read seven different texts on a particular scientific topic, finding that an instruction to write summaries may lead to better understanding and integration than an instruction to write argument essays. We discuss several possible explanations for this result. We also found that beliefs a…
The Role of Sourcing in Discourse Comprehension
This chapter provides a theoretical background by discussing different frameworks relevant for understanding the role of sourcing in discourse comprehension. It reviews empirical work on students' sourcing skills and the role of individual and contextual factors in sourcing and discusses the nature and particular challenges of sourcing in digital contexts and review research on sourcing in such contexts. The chapter analyses intervention work aiming to improve students' consideration and evaluation of source features when dealing with multiple documents and also reviews measures used to assess sourcing skills in the research literature. Developmental psychology research on social cognition …
Investigating elementary school students’ text-based argumentation with multiple online information resources
In this study, we explored how elementary school students used multiple information resources in responding to a text-based argumentation task asking them to research a set of online texts in order to state and justify their stance on a controversial health-related issue. Results showed that most students took a stance that was consistent with the majority of the information resources that they read, that they mainly drew on more reliable resources in their written task products, and that they justified their stance by providing one or more supporting reasons. Students relied much more on copying and paraphrasing content from the online resources than on integrating information within and a…
Adolescents' credibility justifications when evaluating online texts.
AbstractResearch has shown that students differ in their abilities to evaluate the credibility of online texts, and, in general, many perform poorly on online evaluation tasks. This study extended current knowledge by examining students’ abilities to justify the credibility of online texts from different perspectives, thus providing a more nuanced understanding of students’ credibility evaluation ability. We examined how upper secondary school students (N = 73; aged 16 to 17) evaluated author expertise, author intention, the publication venue, and the quality of evidence when reading four texts about the effects of sugar consumption in a web-based environment. Additionally, we examined how …
Comprehension effects of signalling relationships between documents in search engines
A key task for students learning about a complex topic from multiple documents on the web is to establish the existing rhetorical relations between the documents. Traditional search engines such as Google(R) display the search results in a listed format, without signalling any relationship between the documents retrieved. New search engines such as Kartoo(R) go a step further, displaying the results as a constellation of documents, in which the existing relations between pages are made explicit. This presentation format is based on previous studies of single-text comprehension, which demonstrate that providing a graphical overview of the text contents and their relation boosts readers' comp…
Investigating effects of reading medium and reading purpose on behavioral engagement and textual integration in a multiple text context
Abstract The study addressed to what extent behavioral engagement and textual integration may differ when undergraduate readers work with identical printed versus digital texts in preparation for an exam versus for pleasure. We expected that working with printed texts would lead to greater engagement and better integration than working with digital texts, but that reading purpose would moderate this effect of reading medium because those reading in preparation for an exam would display greater engagement and better integration regardless of reading medium. Results showed interaction effects of reading medium with reading purpose on the behavioral engagement indicators of reading time and th…
Does reading medium affect processing and integration of textual and pictorial information? A multimedia eye-tracking study
Abstract This study investigated effects of reading medium (print vs. digital) on integrative processing and integrated understanding of an illustrated text on human sexuality, as well as whether reading medium indirectly affected integrated understanding via integrative processing. Participants were 100 undergraduate and graduate students in educational sciences. Integrative processing was indicated by participants’ gaze transitions between complementary textual and pictorial parts of the document during reading, and integrated understanding was indicated by participants’ integration of textual and pictorial information in post-reading written responses. Results showed that participants wh…