Raquel Cerdán

The Effects of Tasks on Integrating Information from Multiple Documents.

The authors examine 2 issues: (a) how students integrate information from multiple scientific documents to describe and explain a physical phenomenon that represents a subset of the information in the documents; and (b) the role of 2 sorts of tasks to achieve this type of integration, either writing an essay on a question requiring integration across texts or answering shorter intratext questions that require students to integrate information within a single text, while superficial and deep comprehension measurements are obtained. Undergraduate students answered 1 of the 2 types of questions, and their reading times were recorded. Half of the sample thought aloud. Results showed that the integration question increased integration and decreased the processing of isolated units of information, which enhanced deep learning, whereas no differences between the 2 sorts of tasks on memory recall were apparent. This research also provides evidence for the discrepancy between training and posttraining effects (R. A. Schmidt & R. A. Bjork, 1992).

Recording online processes in task-oriented reading with Read&Answer

We present an application to study task-oriented reading processes called Read&Answer. The application mimics paper-and-pencil situations in which a reader interacts with one or more documents to perform a specific task, such as answering questions, writing an essay, or similar activities. Read&Answer presents documents and questions with a mask. The reader unmasks documents and questions so that only a piece of information is available at a time. This way the entire interaction between the reader and the documents on the task is recorded and can be analyzed. We describe Read&Answer and present its applications for research and assessment. Finally, we explain two studies that compare readers’ performance on Read&Answer with students’ reading times and comprehension levels on a paper-and-pencil task, and on a computer task recorded with eye-tracking. The use of Read&Answer produced similar comprehension scores, although it changed the pattern of reading times.

Papel de los procesos metacognitivos en una tarea de pregunta-respuesta con textos escritos

Resumen Este estudio analiza el papel de medidas metacognitivas de monitorización y auto-regulación del proceso de contestar a preguntas de un texto, así como su contribución para explicar las diferencias individuales más allá de la explicación proporcionada por una medida general de comprensión lectora. Estudiantes de secundaria leyeron dos textos y contestaron preguntas, la mitad de las cuales contenía una contradicción interna. La detección de la contradicción fue utilizada para medir la monitorización de la comprensión de las preguntas. Los estudiantes realizaban la tarea en un ordenador que registraba el tiempo y secuencia de lectura, lo que permitió medir procesos de auto-regulación durante la tarea. Los resultados indican que las medidas de monitorización y auto-regulación explican un porcentaje significativo de la varianza de la puntuación total de respuesta a las preguntas más allá de la explicación proporcionada por la medida general de comprensión.

How adolescents navigate Wikipedia to answer questions / ¿Cómo navegan los adolescentes en Wikipedia para contestar preguntas?

Abstract In one experiment, we explored how high school students use hyperlink relevance cues while they navigate to answer questions from hypertexts. Current evidence has shown that students may navigate by either performing a deep semantic analysis of the relationship between the question and the existing hyperlinks, or by matching words in the question to words in the hyperlink labels. We focused on how students combine both cues during navigation, and how comprehension skills relate to the use of such cues. Our study revealed that 14 year old students (N = 53) selected hyperlinks by relying to a similar degree on both word matching and semantic overlap. Furthermore, when there was a conflict between an irrelevant link cued via word matching and a relevant link only cued through semantic overlap, students’ comprehension skills facilitated their initial selection of an informative relevant link. To conclude, we discuss the implications of these results for current models of hypertext navigation.

Estrategias de selección de información en tareas de contestación a preguntas

Resumen El objetivo del estudio fue investigar las estrategias de selección de información de estudiantes de secundaria en una situación de lectura orientada a tareas. Treinta seis estudiantes leyeron dos textos y contestaron seis preguntas por texto, tres de las cuales habían sido manipuladas para inducir un falso emparejamiento de palabras entre el enunciado de la pregunta y localizaciones erróneas del texto. Analizamos si los estudiantes con buen y peor nivel de comprensión contestarían con éxito las preguntas y si copiarían información errónea a partir de un falso emparejamiento de palabras. Los estudiantes con buen nivel de comprensión puntuaron mejor en preguntas y aquellos con peores niveles de comprensión copiaron información más veces a partir de pistas falsas, especialmente en las preguntas más difíciles. Estos resultados sugieren que un buen nivel de comprensión facilita el uso de estrategias de selección a partir de ideas, mientras que un peor nivel de comprensión induce el uso inapropiado de estrategias de contestación basadas en el emparejamiento de palabras.

TuinLEC, an intelligent tutoring system to improve reading literacy skills / TuinLEC, un tutor inteligente para mejorar la competencia lectora

Abstract This study describes an intelligent tutoring system to improve reading literacy skills called TuinLEC and it presents the results of its application to a group of sixth grade students. TuinLEC adopts the reading literacy theoretical framework of PISA (Program for International Students Assessment, OECD, 2009). TuinLEC includes eight lessons distributed in two phases, one for modeling and guided practice, and the second for independent practice. TuinLEC interacts with every student and it provides help and feedback for the task in a game-like environment. Half of the students were taught with TuinLEC, whereas the other half served as the control group. Children in both groups were paired according to reading comprehension scores. We measured students’ reading literacy skills after intervention, which showed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group. Students who were taught with TuinLEC were also given a questionnaire measuring satisfaction, usability, and self-efficacy; TuinLEC scored positively in all these measurements. We discuss how TuinLEC can improve the reading literacy skills of sixth-graders as well as the contribution of intelligent tutoring systems to instructional interventions.

Search and Comprehension Processes in Learning from Text

We analyzed the relationships between comprehension skill and search strategies in instructional text. In two experiments, college-level readers were asked to search a computer-presented science text in order to answer different types of questions. High level questions required the integration of information across paragraphs, whereas low level questions requested the localization of information within a single paragraph. High level questions were re-read more often and they resulted in broader text search patterns. Furthermore, students who were diagnosed as good comprehenders located relevant sections of the text faster and spent more time on those sections. Poor comprehenders, on the other hand, showed more “erratic” search patterns, spending more time on irrelevant portions of the materials. The results support the view that skilled comprehension involves the ability to allocate various levels of attention to different portions of the text, depending on contextual constraints.

Formative feedback to transfer self-regulation of task-oriented reading strategies

The study includes two experiments to analyse the effects of automatic formative feedback designed to promote the transfer of self-regulation of strategic decisions in task-oriented reading e.g. answering questions from an available text. Secondary-school students read and answered multiple-choice comprehension questions from two texts having them available while receiving consistent feedback about their performance and strategic decisions. Then, they read a different text and answered questions also with the text available, but receiving no feedback. In Experiment 1, we tested two feedback procedures that differed in task conditions and the feedback information associated to these conditions. The most effective was a procedure that forced students to select relevant text information to answer each question and provided accurate feedback based on that selection. Experiment 2 was designed to disentangle the role played by the selection task from that played by the feedback provided. We found that the two components contribute to transfer the self-regulation strategies, although each one has a specific role for different strategies. Theoretical and practical implications of the studies are discussed.

The role of perspective on students’ use of multiple documents to solve an openended Task

McCrudden & Schraw (2007) show how students’ interaction with a text is mediated by the instructions they are presented with. Specifically, perspective instructions prompt readers to use background knowledge to evaluate text from an assigned point of view. Research on perspective in single texts has demonstrated that readers confer relevance on text segments that are consistent with the assigned perspective (Pichert & Anderson, 1977). This work has tested the effects of perspective when reading conflicting information from multiple documents to perform an open-ended task, as well as has studied if the trustworthiness of a source exerts any influence on students’ decision to use information from a particular document. Results indicate that students’ reading of multiple documents is influenced by perspective instructions, which, in turn, can help students be more discriminative when deciding between more and less trustworthy documents.

Estrategias de lectura y contestación a preguntas con textos múltiples: un estudio de pensamiento en voz alta

Resumen El presente estudio investiga los procesos y estrategias de lectura que emergen cuando los estudiantes leen varios textos que abordan una misma temática y resuelven dos tipos distintos de preguntas. Se creó una situación experimental en la que estudiantes universitarios leyeron tres textos complementarios y contestaron una pregunta global o cuatro cuestiones breves, todo ello mediante presentación electrónica gracias al programa Read&Answer. Para analizar en detalle las estrategias promovidas por el tipo de tarea y el nivel de competencia del estudiante, nos servimos fundamentalmente de la metodología de pensar en voz alta. El análisis de los protocolos verbales que los estudiantes emitieron mientras resolvían su tarea desveló que el tipo de tarea influye en el uso de distintas estrategias lectoras y de contestación, así como el nivel de competencia de los participantes.