Marc Stadtler

Dealing with multiple documents on the WWW: The role of metacognition in the formation of documents models

Drawing on the theory of documents representation (Perfetti et al., Toward a theory of documents representation. In: H. v. Oostendorp & S. R. Goldman (Eds.), The construction of mental representations during reading. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 1999), we argue that successfully dealing with multiple documents on the World Wide Web requires readers to form documents models; that is, to form a representation of contents and sources. We present a study in which we tested the assumption that the use of metacognitive strategies is crucial to the formation of documents models. A total of 100 participants with little medical knowledge were asked to conduct an Internet research on a medical topic. Participants were randomly assigned to four experimental groups that received different types of metacognitive prompts: participants either received evaluation prompts, monitoring prompts, both types of prompts, or no prompts. A control group took paper-and-pencil notes. Results showed that laypersons receiving evaluation prompts outperformed controls in terms of knowledge about sources and produced more arguments relating to the source of information when justifying credibility judgments. However, laypersons receiving evaluation prompts were not better able to indicate the source of information after Internet research than controls. In addition, laypersons receiving monitoring prompts acquired significantly more knowledge about facts, and performed slightly better on a comprehension test. It is concluded that the results underline the importance of metacognition in dealing with multiple documents.

Dealing With Uncertainty: Readers' Memory for and Use of Conflicting Information From Science Texts as Function of Presentation Format and Source Expertise

Past research has shown that readers often fail to notice conflicts in text. In our present study we investigated whether accessing information from multiple documents instead of a single document might alleviate this problem by motivating readers to integrate information. We further tested whether this effect would be moderated by source expertise. One hundred undergraduates read the same medical information purportedly written by either medical experts or laypeople, which was presented as one document or spread across four documents. Results revealed partial support for our hypotheses. Readers of multiple documents exhibited superior memory for conflicts and provided a more balanced description of conflicting information in essays they wrote. Variation of author expertise moderated the effect of presentation format in the essay task but not on the memory test. The results extend previous research by showing that multiple documents reading also stimulates the integration of conflicting information.

Multiple Document Comprehension: An Approach to Public Understanding of Science

Imagine Joanna, mother of a teenaged son, who wants to find out whether playing violent computer games will negatively affect her son’s personality. Or Lucy, a 15-year-old secondary student, who is preparing a presentation about DNA fingerprinting. Or imagine José, a college student, who is collaborating with a classmate to prepare a presentation summarizing research on climate change. Although the protagonists vary in age, educational background, and purpose, Joanna, Lucy, and José rely on multiple documents retrieved from the Internet and must understand scientific information contained within and across them. Their processes are characteristic of how individuals acquire knowledge in the digital age. Yet, there is public concern that many individuals lack the skills needed to derive meaning from the textual mélange they encounter online (Leu et al., 2009). Accordingly, major research projects have been initiated recently in a number of countries, specifically focused on identifying skills and devising instructional processes related to the comprehension of scientific information from various sources (e.g., Project READi: Reading, Evidence, and Argumentation in Disciplinary Instruction, www.projectreadi.org, in the United States; Special Priority Program on Science and the Public, www.scienceandthepublic.de, in Germany; Project on Multiple-Documents Literacy: Understanding, Assessing, and Improving Students’ Learning from Conflicting Information Sources, www.uv.uio.no, in Norway). This special issue brings together a sampling of some of the cutting-edge research related to these initiatives. The contributions to this issue reflect a diversity of approaches in that they investigate comprehension of multiple documents at different levels of cognitive development and examine both individual and collaborative reading scenarios. A recurring theme throughout the contributions is conflict, meaning that comprehending requires readers to handle partly inconsistent accounts of the same situation or phenomenon. In this sense, the research teams ask under what conditions readers of multiple documents notice conflicts (Stadtler, Scharrer, Brummernhenrich, & Bromme, this issue), how their prior beliefs determine what they draw from reading controversial information (Maier & Richter, this issue), to what extent readers of multiple documents pay attention to source information (Strømsø, Bråten, Britt, & Ferguson, this issuee), how primary school students can learn to evaluate multiple sources (Macedo-Rouet, Braasch, Britt, & Rouet, this issuee), and

When science becomes too easy: Science popularization inclines laypeople to underrate their dependence on experts

Science popularization fulfills the important task of making scientific knowledge understandable and accessible for the lay public. However, the simplification of information required to achieve this accessibility may lead to the risk of audiences relying overly strongly on their own epistemic capabilities when making judgments about scientific claims. Moreover, they may underestimate how the division of cognitive labor makes them dependent on experts. This article reports an empirical study demonstrating that this “easiness effect of science popularization” occurs when laypeople read authentic popularized science depictions. After reading popularized articles addressed to a lay audience, laypeople agreed more with the knowledge claims they contained and were more confident in their claim judgments than after reading articles addressed to expert audiences. Implications for communicating scientific knowledge to the general public are discussed.

The Art of Reading in a Knowledge Society: Commentary on the Special Issue on Models of Multiple Text Comprehension

This special issue presents an outstanding overview of theoretical models of multiple text comprehension. The goal of this commentary is to synthesize insights from the four models and identify recurring themes. In so doing, I outline skills needed by the proficient reader emphasizing the importance of adaptivity. I conclude with an outlook on potentials of and barriers to promoting the skills of multiple document comprehension in a sustainable way.

Exploring fourth graders’ sourcing skills / Un análisis de la capacidad de escrutinio sobre las fuentes de información de los estudiantes de cuarto grado

Abstract Acquiring information from the Web creates new educational demands even in elementary school. Children need to scrutinize source information (‘sourcing’) to choose trustworthy information. So far, few studies have documented young readers’ abilities to identify and evaluate source information. With two studies, we seek to gather more evidence on elementary students’ sourcing skills and use. In study 1, we investigate to what extent fourth graders can identify source information and evaluate informants’ expertise and intentions in simplistic, age-appropriate reading tasks. In study 2, we explore whether fourth graders spontaneously apply their sourcing skills when reading simplified multiple documents. Results suggest that fourth graders can successfully identify source information and evaluate informants’ expertise and intentions in simple and direct tasks but fail to apply this ability to more complex and implicit tasks. Implications for information literacy education are discussed.

Readers’ Selective Recall of Source Features as a Function of Claim Discrepancy and Task Demands

ABSTRACT In two experiments, undergraduate students read short texts containing two embedded sources that could either agree or disagree with each other. Participants’ memory for the sources’ identity (i.e., occupation) and features (i.e., the source’s access to knowledge and the source’s physical appearance) was examined as a function of the consistency of their assertions. In Experiment 1 (n = 64), sources were described with only one feature (knowledge or appearance), whereas in Experiment 2 (n = 62), each source was described with both features. Experiment 1 additionally tested the influence of two different tasks during reading (an evaluation of sources’ knowledgeability vs. an evaluation of sources’ age). Consistent with our predictions, knowledge evaluations (Experiment 1) and discrepant claims (Experiments 1 and 2) enhanced memory for sources and their features. Experiment 2 also showed that when both types of features were available, discrepant claims selectively benefited memory for a source’s knowledgeability over appearance.

Effects of a Sourcing Prompt and Conflicts in Reading Materials on Elementary Students’ Use of Source Information

ABSTRACT Due to the increasing educational use of the Internet, children in elementary school need to critically evaluate source information to judge the trustworthiness of information. Studies with adult readers show that sourcing prompts and mutually exclusive claims in reading materials promote the use of source information. However, little is known about how these facilitating factors affect early readers. Therefore, we investigated to what extent a sourcing prompt and mutually exclusive claims in reading materials influence elementary students’ use of source information when completing a multiple documents task. Results reveal that a sourcing prompt enhances source citations but not source evaluations or memory for source-content links. Students reading mutually exclusive claims more often adhere to the position of a trustworthy source but do not include more source references into their written task products.