Emerging Journalistic Verification Practices Concerning Social Media

The verification of social media content and sources are increasingly critical to journalists and news organisations. In this study, we report on findings from qualitative interviews conducted with 24 journalists working with social media in major news organisations in Europe. Our findings contribute to new knowledge on journalists' social media working practices. We find that social media content are often used as the primary news source, and journalists use several different verification strategies to verify social media content and sources. Journalists are also found to have various competences in verifying social media content, in particular visual content. Moreover, our study suggests user requirements for future innovations in tools to support the verification of social media content. To avoid trade-offs between verification and fast-paced publishing, journalists will need efficient and easy-to-use support both in the verification process and in structuring and organising an overwhelming amount of social media content.     

Profiles of reading related skills in dyslexic families

The aim of the present study was to investigate patterns of similarity in reading related tasks among dyslexic members of the same family. From a sample of 19 well defined dyslexic students in grade 8, three cases were randomly selected for closer examination with a battery of tasks assumed to be causally related to reading. In all selected cases the fathers reported reading disability and in one case the mother was affected as well. The profiles of performance on the various tasks showed a striking similarity within families suggesting similar mechanisms underlying the reading disability. All cases showed remarkable problems in phonological processing, although functional reading skills were almost intact in some cases. Thus, the phonological tasks might be regarded as marker tasks for identifying genetic dyslexia.Requests for reprints should be sent to Torleiv Høien, Center for Reading Research, Stavanger Teacher College, P.B. 2521, Ullandhaug, N-4004 Stavanger, Norway.     

Multiple Models of Multiple-Text Comprehension: A Commentary

Research on multiple source use concerns how readers handle a number of different, often conflicting or discrepant, information sources to construct a mental representation of content. Students are increasingly being exposed to such complex reading situations, both in and outside of school. The digital world demands multiple source use, and students must be prepared to critically evaluate sources varying widely in genre, design, and trustworthiness. In this special issue of Educational Psychologist, four articles present different models of how readers approach and process multiple information sources. The four contributions, to varying degrees, represent elaborations and extensions of the Multiple Documents Framework (Perfetti, Rouet, & Britt, 1999). This commentary summarizes the four articles and discusses the articles in relation to prior models and to some assumptions apparently underpinning current models of multiple source use.     

Elaborating a framework for communicating assessment aims in higher education

Assessment is a central feature of student learning in higher education and has a strong influence on the student experience. Accordingly, the appropriate communication of assessment aims is a priority for all higher education institutions. This study proposes an analytical framework for the interpretation and creation of assessments across higher education disciplines. The framework suggests that assessments can be categorised according to rhetorical purposes, formats, modes and group arrangements. Assessments from three degree programmes at one Australian university are analysed using the framework to show its usefulness in classifying and evaluating task components and generating broad images of degrees based on assessment regimes. We draw on these practical applications to explain and compare discipline-specific qualities of each degree, and argue that the framework might enhance the communication of assessment aims to benefit higher education stakeholders.     

Beliefs about justification for knowing when ethnic majority and ethnic minority students read multiple conflicting documents

We examined the role of justification for knowing beliefs in learning and comprehension when ethnic majority and ethnic minority students from the same school classes read five conflicting documents on the scientific issue of sun exposure and health. Results showed that the more ethnic minority students trusted scientific authorities and the less they relied on personal opinion when validating knowledge claims in the domain of science, the more they learned from and the better they comprehended the documents. In contrast, justification for knowing beliefs did not seem to play a role in learning and comprehension among ethnic majority students. These results may reflect that the documents represented more of a challenge to the ethnic minority students, with justification beliefs affecting learning and comprehension processes to a greater extent when the task is perceived as an ill-structured problem. This study is probably the first to indicate different relationships between various justification beliefs and performance in different language and cultural groups, having theoretical as well as educational implications.     

Trends in research on project-based science and technology teaching and learning at K–12 levels: a systematic review

Project-based teaching is nothing new; it originates from the work of authors like Dewey and Kilpatrick. Recent decades have seen renewed interest in this approach. In many countries, it is currently considered to be an innovative approach to science and technology (S&;T) teaching. In this article, we present a systematic review of what recent scientific publications teach us about this approach: How is this approach identified in these publications? How is the use of this approach in school S&;T justified? What are the main research questions covered by studies in the field? What do these studies on this approach teach us? To answer these questions, we have selected and analysed articles published, between 2000 and 2014, in journals that are specialised in school science and technology education and that are indexed in ERIC database. In the synthesis based on this analysis, we present: (a) the theoretical constructs used by the authors to refer to this approach and the features identified to define it; (b) the justifications for this approach; (c) the research questions covered by studies in the field; (d) the data collection and analysis methods used in these studies; and (e) the main findings. In addition to presenting a synthesis of current research in this field, we offer a critical discussion thereof with a focus on two aspects, namely the way PBSTL is conceptualised and the rigour of the research methods used to ensure the validity of findings.     

Sourcing in professional education: Do text factors make any difference?

The present study investigated the extent to which the text factors of source salience and emphasis on risk might influence readers’ attention to and use of source information when reading single documents to make behavioral decisions on controversial health-related issues. Participants (n = 259), who were attending different bachelor-level professional programs at a university college, generally disregarded source information irrespective of textual manipulations, especially sources cited or embedded within other documents, and mainly relied on their own personal experiences and opinions when making behavioral decisions on the issues. Theoretical as well as educational implications of the findings are discussed.     

Teachers’ learning in school-based development

Background and purpose: Many researchers agree that teachers’ learning processes are social and that teachers need to be brought together to learn from each other. Researchers have also stated that intellectual and pedagogical change requires professional development activities that take place over a period of time in school. The purpose of the study presented in the article was to develop knowledge about the teachers’ learning when taking part in a school-based development project. Main argument: The study shows that it takes some time before the teachers identify with the work in school-based development. Even though the national authorities decided what to focus on during the development work, the participating teachers felt that they had autonomy in the work. The study presented in the article shows that it is important for the teachers’ learning culture that they are listened to and taken into consideration and that the leaders have competence in leading school-based development to support the teachers’ learning. Sources of evidence and method: The article is based on a study connected with school-based development in three lower secondary schools. Qualitative interviews were used as the data-collection strategy to capture the teachers’ and school leaders’ experiences and reflections. Conclusion: The article presents new knowledge connected with teachers’ learning in school-based development. The study presented in the article shows that schools’ learning culture can make a difference for the teachers’ learning and their job satisfaction and wellbeing.     

Rural Location and Academic Success—Remarks on Research,Contextualisation and Methodology

In this article the focus is on the relationship between rural location and education outcomes, a field that has not received enough attention either by educational authorities or by educational researchers. Main goals are to argue for an increased focus on rural education and for the need for contextualisation of educational research in general. Research on issues such as school size, local adaption, population composition, parental involvement and rural approaches to learning are presented in order to map significant areas in rural education research. Perspectives focusing on compositional and contextual effects explaining spatial variations in academic success are highlighted. In addition, an outline of some methodological consequences following from the latter goal is provided.     

Effects of different ways of introducing a reading task on intrinsic motivation and comprehension

This study compared the effects of two brief prereading instructional practices – hands‐on activities and prior knowledge activation – on sixth‐graders' intrinsic motivation for reading a text and reading comprehension. Both hands‐on activities and prior knowledge activation substantially improved reading comprehension relative to a control condition where students just read to answer questions and take a test about the text content. These effects did not depend on preexisting individual differences in basic reading skill, reading motivation or topic knowledge. Hands‐on activities and prior knowledge activation did not differentially affect reading comprehension, however, nor did either of them have any effect on intrinsic motivation to read the text. If used regularly in classrooms, brief prereading practices in the form of hands‐on activities or prior knowledge activation may result in knowledge gains that accumulate to build a solid conceptual basis for further, self‐regulated learning from text.