Tomás Martínez

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.

Evaluación de las estrategias y procesos de comprensión: el Test de Procesos de Comprensión

Resumen En este trabajo se presenta un nuevo test de evaluación de la comprensión lectora llamado Test de Procesos de Comprensión (TPC) que, a diferencia de la mayoría de los test en español actuales, está basado en un análisis de procesos de comprensión contemplados en la mayoría de los modelos cognitivos actuales. El test es aplicable a escolares entre 11 y 16 años, de fácil aplicación y corrección. Los resultados empíricos muestran que el test cumple con los requisitos psicométricos estándar de homogeneidad, validez y fiabilidad, y muestra un alto poder para discriminar entre estudiantes de diferentes niveles escolares. Supone un avance metodológico en la elaboración de pruebas de evaluación fundamentadas en modelos cognitivos ampliamente aceptados.

On-Line Assessment of Comprehension Processes

In this paper we describe a new version of a former paper-and-pencil standardized comprehension test called Test of Comprehension Processes (Vidal-Abarca, Gilabert, Martínez, & Sellés, 2007). The new version has been adapted to a computer-based environment based on the moving window technique. It can be used to assess comprehension strategies of students from fifth to tenth grades (11- to 16-years-old). Comprehension strategies are registered on-line using reading times and visits to relevant sections of the text during the question-answering process. Data show that the computer-based version draws similar results to those provided by the paper-and-pencil version. In addition, we identify the particular strategies deployed during the question-answering process by high, medium and low comprehenders.

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.

Eficacia de tomar notas para integrar información de varios textos

Resumen Este estudio analiza el efecto de tomar notas para integrar información de varios documentos científicos. Estudiantes universitarios leyeron cuatro textos científicos para elaborar un ensayo sobre un tema común a los cuatro textos. La mitad de los estudiantes pudieron tomar notas mientras leían así como usarlas para elaborar el ensayo, mientras la otra mitad no pudieron. La tarea fue realizada en un ordenador de forma que se registró la secuencia de acciones de cada participante. La eficacia de la integración se midió mediante algunos índices de la calidad del ensayo y dos medidas adicionales de aprendizaje. Los resultados indicaron que los alumnos que no tomaron notas aprendieron más que los que las tomaron, aunque escribieron menos ideas textuales en el ensayo. El registro on-line proporcionó evidencias para explicar estos resultados. Finalmente se discuten las limitaciones del estudio así como sus aplicaciones educativas.

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.

Strategic Decisions in Task-Oriented Reading

Answering questions from texts are assessment and instructional activities that are frequently used in schools. Nevertheless, little is known about the strategic processes that students take while performing these tasks. We explored the amount and frequency that students initially read of a text before they answered questions pertaining to the material. In a procedure similar to the one used in the PISA (Program for International Students Assessment), one-hundred-seventy students between 7th and 9th grade read and answered several questions designed to assess task-oriented reading in three specific texts. We recorded on-line indexes that evaluated student behavior (e.g., the amount of text that students read before answering questions raised within a given text), performance, and comprehension skill. The results revealed that students skilled in comprehension initially read a high proportion of the texts, which in turn improved their overall performance in two of the three texts read (text 1: CI95%: 0.01 to 0.09; text 2: CI95%: -0.01 to 0.05; text 3: CI95%: 0.04 to 0.20). Therefore, we conclude that this strategic behavior should be considered during the assessment and instruction of reading literacy.

Bridging Skill and Task-Oriented Reading

Some individual difference factors are more strongly correlated with performance on postreading questions when the text is not available than when it is. The present study explores if similar interactions occur with bridging skill, which refers to a readers propensity to establish connections between explicit text during reading. Undergraduates read science texts using two research tools. The Reading Strategy-Assessment Tool provided a measure of bridging skill. Texts and postreading questions were presented in Read&Answer, and the availability of the text while answering was manipulated. Contrary to prior research, bridging skill was comparably correlated with performance in both availability conditions. Although bridging skill was not correlated with search decisions, there was a trend toward a positive correlation with search time, suggesting that readers who tend to bridge more may also tend to persist longer in searching for answers. The results are discussed in terms of dynamic perspectives of task-oriented reading.

The skills related to the early reading acquisition in Spain and Peru

This paper deals with the skills related to the early reading acquisition in two countries that share language. Traditionally on reading readiness research there is a great interest to find out what factors affect early reading ability, but differ from other academic skills that affect general school learnings. Furthermore, it is also known how the influence of pre-reading variables in two countries with the same language, affect the development of the reading. On the other hand, several studies have examined what skills are related to reading readiness (phonological awareness, alphabetic awareness, naming speed, linguistic skills, metalinguistic knowledge and basic cognitive processes), but there are no studies showing whether countries can also influence the development of these skills.Our main objective in this study was to establish whether there were differences in the degree of acquisition of these skills between Spanish (119 children) and Peruvian (128 children), five years old children assessed in their own countries and after controlling Economic, Social and Cultural Status (ESCS). The results show that there are significant differences in the degree of acquisition of these skills between these two samples. Its especially relevant, in these results, that the main predictor in a regression study was the country of origin, explaining a higher percentage of variance than other variables such as age differences, in months, or gender. These findings corroborate the results obtained in other studies with migrant population.

Read&Answer, A Tool to Capture on-Line Processing of Electronic Texts

This paper is aimed at presenting Read&Answer, a tool that records reading times, one of the main on-line methods employed in text processing research. Read&Answer allows the recording, analysis and interpretation of the learner processing in order to test specific hypotheses and explain final comprehension results. First, we will describe the tool, and then we will briefly explain some research studies using the tool. We will show how Read&Answer can be used in combination with another on-line method extensively employed in text processing research, i.e., verbal protocols, and we will also compare Read&Answer with eye movement tracking, a widely accepted on-line reading times technique.