Researching and writing based on multiple texts

Students perform poorly on multiple text reading-writing (MTRW) tasks. To address this issue, we examine students' strategy engagement during response composition by analyzing five types of data. These include: (a) log data of text access, (b) the notes that students composed during processing, (c) students' modified think-aloud reports, (d) screen-capture videos of writing behaviors, and (e) the written products generated. We report on insights gained by coordinating and juxtaposing these various sources of data on students' writing. Results showed that while students accessed and took notes on the majority of the texts provided, information from texts was rarely connected, neither in students' notes nor in the written responses composed. Moreover, students' effortful engagement in multiple text use, captured via log data, was associated with task performance. Finally, a number of variables, corresponding to students’ strategy reports during processing, were found to be significant predictors of writing performance.     

Toward an Integrated Framework of Multiple Text Use

We introduce the Integrated Framework of Multiple Texts to understand how students use and form connections between multiple texts to accomplish personal or task goals. The Integrated Framework of Multiple Texts conceptualizes students’ multiple text use as unfolding over the course of three stages—preparation, execution, and production. In the preparation stage of the framework, individual difference factors and students’ task analysis result in learners’ adoption of a default stance, or a general orientation, toward multiple text use. During the execution stage of the framework, students engage in a variety of behavioral, cognitive, and metacognitive/regulatory strategies to develop cross-textual links and to integrate information across multiple texts. The execution stage concludes with students’ development of a variety of affective and cognitive outcomes as a consequence of text access. Finally, in the production stage of the framework, students draw on these affective and cognitive outcomes to develop external, often written products.     

Promoting Integration of Multiple Texts: a Review of Instructional Approaches and Practices

The ability to meaningfully and critically integrate multiple texts is vital for twenty-first-century literacy. The aim of this systematic literature review is to synthesize empirical studies in order to examine the current state of knowledge on how intertextual integration can be promoted in educational settings. We examined the disciplines in which integration instruction has been studied, the types of texts and tasks employed, the foci of integration instruction, the instructional practices used, integration measures, and instructional outcomes. The studies we found involved students from 5th grade to university, encompassed varied disciplines, and employed a wide range of task and text types. We identified a variety of instructional practices, such as collaborative discussions with multiple texts, explicit instruction of integration, modeling of integration, uses of graphic organizers, and summarization and annotation of single texts. Our review indicates that integration can be successfully taught, with medium to large effect sizes. Some research gaps include insufficient research with young students; inadequate consideration of new text types; limited attention to students’ understandings of the value of integration, integration criteria, and text structures; and lack of research regarding how to promote students’ motivation to engage in intertextual integration.     

Whose story is this? Discrepancy triggers readers’ attention to source information in short narratives

Three experiments investigated the role of source information (i.e., who said what) in readers’ comprehension of short informational texts. Based on the Discrepancy-Induced Source Comprehension assumption (Braasch, Rouet, Vibert, & Britt, 2012), we hypothesized that readers would be more likely to make use of source information when summarizing stories that included discrepant statements. Readers would also memorize source information more accurately. Experiments 1 and 2 found that American and French college students were more likely to refer to source information when they summarized news reports containing discrepant assertions. A detailed content analysis of the summaries also indicated that students use hedging and several other tactics to resolve contradictions. Experiment 3 replicated Braasch et al.’s finding that sources of discrepant stories were more likely to be recalled than sources of consistent stories. Experiment 3 also extended these findings using longer texts and a different reading task. Altogether the data support the Documents Model framework of multiple source comprehension.     

Facilitating fourth-grade students’ written argumentation: The use of an argumentation graphic organizer

Abstract

Literacy instruction in the 21st century must bolster students’ ability to critically process text and craft well-reasoned written argumentation. The authors investigated changes in fourth-grade students’ (N?=?28; 15 girls) written argumentation as they used a researcher-developed graphic organizer (i.e., Quality Talk graphic organizer [QT_GO]). The authors also examined the extent to which students’ graphic organizer performance predicted their written argumentation and whether such prediction was sustained across genres. Both QT_GO responses and written argumentation essays were scored for quantity and quality. Multilevel modeling analyses reveal that (a) both quantity and quality of students’ written argumentation essays statistically significantly improved after students used QT_GO and (b) students’ graphic organizer performance seemed to attenuate the effect of genre on their written argumentation for both quantity and quality. Results suggest that QT_GO facilitated students’ written argumentation, making it easier for fourth-grade students to write about both narrative and expository texts.     

Fostering integration of informational texts and virtual labs during inquiry-based learning

Inquiry-based learning allows students to learn about scientific phenomena in an exploratory way. Inquiry-based learning can take place in online environments in which students read informational texts and experiment in virtual labs. We conducted two studies using eye-tracking to examine the integration of these two sources of information for students from vocational education (78 and 71 participants, respectively, mean age of 13 years and 7 months). In Study 1, we examined whether the amount of time spent on reading text and on integrating the text content with information from a virtual lab (as measured via gaze switches between the text and the lab) affected the quality of the inquiry-based learning process in the lab (i.e., correctly designed experiments and testable hypotheses created) and the learning gain (increase in domain knowledge from pretest to posttest). Results showed, on average, a gain in domain knowledge. Pretest scores were related to posttest scores, and this relation was mediated by the score for correctly designed experiments in the lab. There was no relation between informational text reading time and inquiry process quality or learning gain, but more frequent integration was associated with a higher score for experimentation in the virtual lab, and more frequent integration attenuated the relation between pretest score and designing correct experiments. Integration could thus compensate for the negative effects of lower prior knowledge. In Study 2, we examined whether integration was stimulated by highlighting correspondences between the informational text and the virtual lab (i.e., signaling). Integration was higher than in Study 1, but this did not further improve the quality of the inquiry process or the learning gain. A general conclusion is that integration fosters inquiry-based learning, but that stimulating additional integration may not result in further improvement.     

Investigating effects of reading medium and reading purpose on behavioral engagement and textual integration in a multiple text context

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 the length of the post-reading written products. For reading time, the interaction involved that students used longer time when reading digital and mixed texts for an exam, compared to reading for pleasure, whereas there were no difference between exam and pleasure oriented reading when reading printed texts. For the length of the written responses, students produced more text when reading printed texts for an exam than when reading printed texts for pleasure, whereas there were no differences in text production between reading for an exam and reading for pleasure when reading digital or mixed texts. Finally, there was an indirect effect of reading purpose on textual integration via text production when students read printed texts: students who read printed texts in preparation for an exam produced longer written responses compared to those who read for pleasure and, in turn, gained a more integrated understanding of the issue in question. These results are discussed in terms of the implications they offer and the avenues they suggest for future research.     

Staying with the text: the contribution of gender,achievement orientations,and interest to students’ performance on a literacy task

This study addresses concerns about boys’ underperformance on literacy tasks compared to girls, by investigating male and females students’ responses to narrative texts. Participants were 142 Grade 9 and 10 students. Achievement orientations, including goals, self‐efficacy, and self‐handicapping, were measured and approach and avoidance factors identified. Boys scored higher than girls on the avoidance factor. The task presented to participants involved reading sections from two narrative texts representing typically male or typically female reading interests. Interest ratings for the narrative text topics and interest levels while reading the texts were monitored, and students’ answers to multiple‐choice questions on text content recorded. Regression analyses confirmed that the influence of gender, achievement orientation, and on‐task text interest on reading performance varied with different patterns of task interest. The findings suggest that students’ achievement orientations and task interests are both important for understanding gender differences in students’ response to narrative texts.     

The influence of multiperspectivity in history texts on students’ representations of a historical event

School history textbook narratives of a nation’s past often present limited perspectives, which may impede the aim of teaching history from multiple perspectives. Less is known about the influence of including multiple perspectives on students’ representations of the past. This study examines the extent to which students include multiple perspectives when processing a schoolbook text that includes multiple perspectives compared to a schoolbook history text containing fewer perspectives. Tenth grade students (N = 104) in four schools were randomly assigned to read one of two texts on the Dutch Revolt and asked to make a summary. Multiperspectivity was analysed through the representation of actors, aspects of scale, dimensions and historiography. The students working with the text having high multiperspectivity showed more perspectives in their representations. In the summaries, these students included significantly more perspectives than did the students using the text with fewer perspectives. Moreover, these students’ representations of the main actors were more nuanced. The students using the text with high multiperspectivity situated the conflict in a broader international context and integrated more historiographical dimensions. The insights generated by these outcomes emphasize the important role of textbooks when aiming to teach history from multiple perspectives.

     

Academic literacies: the word is not enough

For Academic Literacies, the world is textually mediated; written texts and what informs them reveal elements such as subject-discipline practices. Furthermore, multi-modalities, for example, visual representation, inform written text, and multiple methods of inquiry, including interviews, shed light on written text production. In this article we argue that the word is not enough, and non-textual elements must also be considered. From multiple-discipline focused research, we present data from interviews and focus groups with Design and Nursing lecturers that explored student success holistically, not solely through, or for, written text production. We highlight non-textual elements key to both student success, and written text production, such as ‘empathy’, the ‘visual’, the ‘non-verbal’, and also the inability of text to reveal certain key features. We argue that rather than solely prioritise text, Academic Literacies approaches can more effectively help students succeed by holistically considering non-textual elements.     

Electronic Textbooks: Antecedents of Students’ Adoption and Learning Outcomes

Faculty and students are increasingly faced with the opportunity to use electronic versions of textbooks (e‐texts). Despite the advantages of e‐texts and recent advances in technology, evidence suggests that students are still reluctant to adopt and use e‐texts. This situation leads us to investigate two research questions: What factors contribute to students’ acceptance of e‐texts? Are there differences between hardcopy texts and e‐texts when it comes to course grade? We draw on a variety of perspectives (i.e., psychology, management information systems, economics, environmental studies) to build a framework that allows us to determine the motivations of students for adopting e‐texts, and the learning outcomes of e‐text adoption. Data was collected via a survey administered in the business school of a metropolitan university with approximately 20,000 students, located in the western United States. Results suggest that perceived ease‐of‐use and the price of e‐texts relative to hardcopy texts are two key motivators in e‐text adoption, while perceived usefulness, Internet self‐efficacy and environmental concerns are not significant motivators. However, there was no significant difference in the grades of e‐text adopters compared to hardcopy adopters. We conclude this paper by discussing the implications of our findings for educators.     

We are invited to imagine: using a literary text to encourage cross-cultural dialogue about citizenship

ABSTRACT

Using William Golding’s Lord of the Flies as a stimulus, researchers from Norway, Pakistan and the United Kingdom explored the potential of a literary text to encourage intercultural dialogue. The innovative research method used was to combine Literature Circles and Google Documents to provide a platform for asynchronous online exchange between three cohorts of students in higher education. The authors’ analysis of the data suggested differences between those students who regarded the text as a living document speaking directly to their personal experiences of citizenship issues and those for whom the novel remained a historical document, removed from their lived experience. The authors contend that this research can contribute original and significant insights to the literature on teaching citizenship through literary texts such as the relationship between text choice and context, models of international collaboration at the higher education level and contrasting approaches towards citizenship and reading.     

Accuracy of Area Model and Number Line Representations of Fractions for Students with Learning Disabilities

Assessment results are used to investigate relations between performance on a fraction number line estimation task and a circular area model estimation task for students with LD in Grades 6–8. Results indicate that students’ abilities to represent fractions on number lines and on circular area models are distinct skills. In addition, accurate fraction magnitude estimation using number lines was more strongly related to other fractions skills (e.g., fraction magnitude comparison) than accurate fraction magnitude estimation using circular area models. Our findings call for greater integration of the number line into early fractions instruction, and highlight the importance of explicitly teaching students to make connections between different visual representations of fractions. Implications for research and practice are presented.     

“Commenting on your work is a waste of time only!”: An appraisal-based study of evaluative language in supervisory feedback

Research on supervisory feedback on master’s theses, especially attitudinal stances conveyed in such feedback, is thin on the ground. Students’ construal of their supervisors’ attitudes, however, can have a profound impact on their engagement with supervisory feedback. Drawing on the appraisal framework, which characterizes attitudinal meanings in terms of affect (i.e., emotional responses), judgement (i.e., normative evaluation of human behaviors) and appreciation (i.e., aesthetically-/socially-based evaluation of objects and products), this study examined Nepalese supervisors’ attitudinal stances communicated in written comments on master’s thesis drafts (n = 76) submitted by English-as-a-foreign-language students and oral feedback on proposal and thesis defences (n = 89). Quantitative analyses revealed that while instances of appreciation dominated in the supervisors’ use of evaluative language, judgements were also frequent, with affective responses trailing far behind. In both the oral feedback and written comments, significant disciplinary variations were observed for certain types of judgment and appreciation. These findings are discussed in terms of disciplinary culture and the potential impact of the attitudinal stances on students’ learning. Implications are derived for the productive framing of supervisory feedback to facilitate students’ feedback uptake.     

The Role of Surface Text Processing in Centrality Deficit and Poor Text Comprehension of Adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Think‐Aloud Study

The present study employed a think‐aloud method to explore the origin of centrality deficit (i.e., poor recall of central ideas) in individuals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Moreover, utilizing the diverse think‐aloud responses, we examined the overall quality of text processing employed by individuals with ADHD during reading, in order to shed more light on text‐level deficiencies underlying their poor comprehension after reading. To address these goals, adolescents with and without ADHD were asked to state aloud whatever comes to their minds during the reading of two expository texts. After reading, the participants freely recalled text ideas and answered multiple‐choice questions on the texts. Compared to controls, participants with ADHD generated fewer responses that reflect deep, efficient text processing, and reinstated fewer prior text ideas, particularly central ones, during reading. Moreover, the proportions of deep processing responses positively associated with participants’ performance on recall and comprehension tasks. These findings suggest that individuals with ADHD exhibit poor text comprehension and memory, particularly of central ideas, because they construct a low‐quality, less‐connected text representation during reading, and produce fewer, less‐elaborated retrieval cues for subsequent tasks after reading.     

Using automated analysis to assess middle school students' competence with scientific argumentation

Argumentation is fundamental to science education, both as a prominent feature of scientific reasoning and as an effective mode of learning—a perspective reflected in contemporary frameworks and standards. The successful implementation of argumentation in school science, however, requires a paradigm shift in science assessment from the measurement of knowledge and understanding to the measurement of performance and knowledge in use. Performance tasks requiring argumentation must capture the many ways students can construct and evaluate arguments in science, yet such tasks are both expensive and resource-intensive to score. In this study we explore how machine learning text classification techniques can be applied to develop efficient, valid, and accurate constructed-response measures of students' competency with written scientific argumentation that are aligned with a validated argumentation learning progression. Data come from 933 middle school students in the San Francisco Bay Area and are based on three sets of argumentation items in three different science contexts. The findings demonstrate that we have been able to develop computer scoring models that can achieve substantial to almost perfect agreement between human-assigned and computer-predicted scores. Model performance was slightly weaker for harder items targeting higher levels of the learning progression, largely due to the linguistic complexity of these responses and the sparsity of higher-level responses in the training data set. Comparing the efficacy of different scoring approaches revealed that breaking down students' arguments into multiple components (e.g., the presence of an accurate claim or providing sufficient evidence), developing computer models for each component, and combining scores from these analytic components into a holistic score produced better results than holistic scoring approaches. However, this analytical approach was found to be differentially biased when scoring responses from English learners (EL) students as compared to responses from non-EL students on some items. Differences in the severity between human and computer scores for EL between these approaches are explored, and potential sources of bias in automated scoring are discussed.     

The relationship between media type and vocabulary learning in a cross age peer-learning program for linguistically diverse elementary school students

The goal of the present study was to compare children’s word learning through print text, video, and electronic text in the context of a cross-age peer-learning program implemented in linguistically diverse kindergarten and fourth grade classrooms that included English Learners (ELs) and their non-EL peers. Children were assessed at pre- and post-test on measures of receptive and expressive vocabulary knowledge. Findings showed effects of media type on word learning. Effects differed across grades (i.e., kindergarten and fourth grade, language background (i.e., non-EL and EL), and knowledge types (i.e., receptive and expressive). In kindergarten, results suggest that video may be more helpful than electronic texts for supporting receptive and expressive vocabulary, and video may be more helpful than both print and electronic texts for supporting the expressive vocabulary of ELs. In fourth grade, results suggest that video and electronic texts may be more helpful than print texts for supporting expressive vocabulary for non-ELs but not for ELs.     

Conditions for the Effectiveness of Multiple Visual Representations in Enhancing STEM Learning

Visual representations play a critical role in enhancing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning. Educational psychology research shows that adding visual representations to text can enhance students’ learning of content knowledge, compared to text-only. But should students learn with a single type of visual representation or with multiple different types of visual representations? This article addresses this question from the perspective of the representation dilemma, namely that students often learn content they do not yet understand from representations they do not yet understand. To benefit from visual representations, students therefore need representational competencies, that is, knowledge about how visual representations depict information about the content. This article reviews literature on representational competencies involved in students’ learning of content knowledge. Building on this review, this article analyzes how the number of visual representations affects the role these representational competencies play during students’ learning of content knowledge. To this end, the article compares two common scenarios: text plus a single type of visual representations (T+SV) and text plus multiple types of visual representations (T+MV). The comparison yields seven hypotheses that describe under which conditions T+MV scenarios are more effective than T+SV scenarios. Finally, the article reviews empirical evidence for each hypothesis and discusses open questions about the representation dilemma.     

Understanding students’ conceptions of task assignments

Building on research emphasizing the importance of task in reading performance, the present study examines students’ conceptions or definitions of five common academic task assignments (i.e., argument, essay, opinion, summary and research tasks). Results showed that while students have robust schema for some task assignments (e.g., argument, research report), citing a large variety of task elements in defining each of these assignment, other task assignments are only superficially conceptualized by learners (e.g., opinion, essay). While prior work has demonstrated the important role of task assignment in students’ text processing and performance, this is among the first studies to associate emergent differences not only with the tasks assigned but also with students’ task conceptions. Given the emphasis placed on argument tasks in supporting deeper level processing, we were especially interested in students’ conceptions of argument tasks vis-à-vis summary tasks. Students’ conceptions of these and other task assignments were compared using Cochran’s Q, a non-parametric alternative to the repeated measures ANOVA. Finally, linear regression found students’ conceptions of an argument task to be associated with performance on an argument writing task assignment. For instance, students considering argument construction to require citation use was associated with their inclusion of citations in their written responses. This study is among the first to examine students’ own conceptions of common task assignments and to link task conceptions with performance. Implications for instruction are discussed.     

Assessing Students’ Deep Conceptual Understanding in Physical Sciences: an Example on Sinking and Floating

This paper presents a transformative modeling framework that guides the development of assessment to measure students’ deep understanding in physical sciences. The framework emphasizes 3 types of connections that students need to make when learning physical sciences: (1) linking physical states, processes, and explanatory models, (2) integrating multiple explanatory models, and (3) connecting scientific models to concrete experiences. We carried out a 2-phase exploratory study that helped further develop and refine the framework. In the first phase, we developed 3 items on sinking and floating and pilot tested them with 18 undergraduate students. Analysis of student responses revealed various student misconceptions and the different connections students made among science ideas. Based on the findings, we revised the assessment, modified the instruction, and collected data from another cohort of 26 students. The second cohort of students showed significant improvement of understanding of sinking and floating after instruction. Implications and limitations of how our assessment framework can be used to improve students’ conceptual understanding in science are discussed.