Abstracts - Earli

I 930 August 2007 14:30 - 16:30Room: 0.79 JánossySymposiumConstructing meaning from multiple information sourcesChair: Ivar Bråten, University of Oslo, NorwayOrganiser: Eduardo Vidal-Abarca, University of Valencia, SpainOrganiser: Ivar Bråten, University of Oslo, NorwayDiscussant: Anne Britt, Northern Illinois University, USAThis symposium examines learners’ integration and comprehension of multiple documents withdifferent methodologies and from different perspectives. The papers address current surveyresearch and experimental research with students at different educational levels in relation toactivities ranging from the reading of traditional print-based texts to Internet-based learning.Bråten, Strõmsõ, and Samuelstuen focus on the effects of task instruction and personalepistemology on the comprehension of multiple, partly conflicting printed texts about climatechange. In that study, undergraduates have been used to test whether topic-specificepistemological beliefs can moderate the relation between task instruction and multiple textcomprehension. Vidal-Abarca, Gil, and Cerdán report on two experiments where they collectedonline data to examine the integration processes of undergraduates reading multiple texts on acomputer application. In the first experiment, they focus on the integration processes of readersgiven different task instructions; in the second, they examine the effects of note taking on readers’integration processes. The perspective represented in the paper by Le Bigot, Rouet, and Coutierasconsiders how undergraduate and graduate students’ judgements of the authority and credibility ofsources may impact their comprehension of multiple documents presented in a hypertext system.In that research, two experiments were conducted where students read documents on climatechange varying with respect to source authority. The final paper by Stadtler and Bromme is basedon data from students with low topic knowledge searching the Internet with or without a computertool allowing them to classify their notes from multiple documents. The effects of this tool on thestructuring of notes as well as on knowledge acquisition and comprehension are examined. Thissymposium may contribute to the understanding of processes necessary for developing functionalliteracy in a knowledge society and how those processes may be promoted.Topic-specific epistemological beliefs moderate the effect of task instruction on multiple textunderstandingIvar Bråten, University of Oslo, NorwayHelge Strømsø, University of Oslo, NorwayMarit S. Samuelstuen, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NorwayWe examined whether topic-specific epistemological beliefs could moderate the relation betweentask instruction and multiple text understanding in a sample of 184 undergraduates. Participantsread seven texts representing conflicting views on climate change in three different taskconditions: (1) participants in the elaborative summary condition read to produce an elaborativesummary of the most relevant information, (2) participants in the argumentation condition read toexpress and justify their personal opinion, and (3) participants in the global understandingcondition read to impart a global understanding of the main issues. Participants were divided intonañve and sophisticated with respect to certainty and simplicity dimensions of topic-specific– 494 –