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.     

Compulsory education in religion—the Norwegian case: an empirical evaluation of RE in Norwegian schools,with a focus on human rights

Christian knowledge used to be taught in the Norwegian state school as a compulsory subject for members of Lutheran churches. In 1997 this was replaced by a subject that is compulsory for all pupils, where both Christianity, other religions and secular world views are taught on an equal basis, although more time should be used on Christianity than other views. Some parents took the state to court because they wanted full withdrawal from the subject for their children. Having lost the case, the parents of four pupils then appealed to the UN’s Human Rights Committee, which in November 2004 gave a verdict supporting the parents. This article is based on an evaluation project, asking parents, pupils and teachers about their experiences with the new subject, and also asking parents how they would prefer religions and world views to be taught. We focus on what we regard as the subject’s most central dilemma: how can the school contribute to giving the pupils and society a common cultural basis while at the same time both freedom of religion and parental rights are taken care of?     

Demographic and psychological predictors of grade point average (GPA) in North-Norway: a particular analysis of cognitive/school-related and literacy problems

Approximately 30% of students drop out from Norwegian upper secondary schools. Academic achievement, as indexed by grade point average (GPA), is one of the strongest predictors of dropout. The present study aimed to examine the role of cognitive, school-related and affective/psychological predictors of GPA. In addition, we examined the psychometric properties of a new scale for literacy problems (LP), as well as its role for GPA. Analyses showed that the scale had favourable psychometric properties. Multivariable regression analyses showed that study track choice, task solving skills, gender, lack of educational plans and LP predicted GPA in descending order. The major implication of the study was that GPA is related to a multiple number of demographic, cognitive and psychosocial factors, and that any interventions addressing GPA will be less effective if not addressing psychosocial in addition to cognitive/school-related factors.     

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.     

Identifying patterns of students' performance on simulated inquiry tasks using PISA 2015 log-file data

Previous research has demonstrated the potential of examining log-file data from computer-based assessments to understand student interactions with complex inquiry tasks. Rather than solely providing information about what has been achieved or the accuracy of student responses (product data), students' log files offer additional insights into how the responses were produced (process data). In this study, we examined students' log files to detect patterns of students' interactions with computer-based assessment and to determine whether unique characteristics of these interactions emerge as distinct profiles of inquiry performance. Knowledge about the characteristics of these profiles can shed light on why some students are more successful at solving simulated inquiry tasks than others and how to support student understanding of scientific inquiry through computer-based environments. We analyzed the Norwegian PISA 2015 log-file data, science performance as well as background questionnaire (N = 1,222 students) by focusing on two inquiry tasks, which required scientific reasoning skills: coordinating the effects of multiple variables and coordinating theory and evidence. Using a mixture modeling approach, we identified three distinct profiles of students' inquiry performance: strategic, emergent, and disengaged. These profiles revealed different characteristics of students' exploration behavior, inquiry strategy, time-on-task, and item accuracy. Further analyses showed that students' assignment to these profiles varied according to their demographic characteristics (gender, socio-economic status, and language at home), attitudes (enjoyment in science, self-efficacy, and test anxiety), and science achievement. Although students' profiles on the two inquiry tasks were significantly related, we also found some variations in the proportion of students' transitions between profiles. Our study contributes to understanding how students interact with complex simulated inquiry tasks and showcases how log-file data from PISA 2015 can aid this understanding.     

Parents’ educational involvement: Types of resources and forms of involvement in four countries

Parents’ involvement in schooling and education is highly important for children’s results. Still, both levels of involvement and their effects vary according to social class. Previous research on educational reproduction within the family has, however, largely studied differences between the middle and the working class, and generally ignored differences in the composition of cultural and economic capital. In this article, we aim to fill this gap in the literature by separating cultural and economic resources and investigate their correlation with two kinds of parental involvement in four different European countries. Results show that parents with more cultural resources are more likely to be involved by having future educational expectations, and parents with more economic resources are more likely to be involved in their children’s current schooling (e.g. help with homework) than those with more cultural resources. The association between economic resources and involvement in educational expectations is however stronger in Spain and Iceland than in Belgium and Norway, suggesting an influence from system-level features as well as general economic trends.