Abstracts - Earli

groups did not differ with respect to the acquisition of factual knowledge, or comprehension of thesubject matter. The results provide insights into the effects of representational guidance in amultiple documents situation and have educational implications with respect to the support ofreaders dealing with multiple documents on the Internet.The impact of source characteristics on subjective and objective estimates of multiple textcomprehensionJean-Francois Rouet, University of Poitiers & CNRS, FranceLudovic Le Bigot, University of Poitiers & CNRS, FranceAnthony Coutieras, University of Poitiers & CNRS, FranceSearching the Web for documents of interest requires the reader to generate inferences as regardsthe quality and credibility of potential information sources. Two experiments investigated theeffects of source attribution on students’ perceptions of comprehensibility and on their actualcomprehension of a set of Web-based documents. In experiment 1, we found that domain novicescorrectly assessed the competence of artificially manipulated sources. However, the participantsalso found more authoritative sources (e.g., a scientist expert in the topic) more difficult tounderstand than less authoritative ones. Experiment 2 aimed at replicating the results using adifferent set of materials, a larger sample and both subjective and objective estimates ofcomprehension. The data were being collected at the time of submission.I 1030 August 2007 14:30 - 16:30Room: 0.100ASymposiumThe dynamics of scaffolding: New approaches to scaffolding in thecontext of cognitive learningChair: Peter Tymms, CEM Centre Durham University, United KingdomOrganiser: Henderien Steenbeek, University of Groningen, NetherlandsDiscussant: Paul van Geert, University of Groningen, NetherlandsCurrently, most researchers agree that scaffolding is a transactional process, in which both thescaffolder and the scaffoldee make their own unique contribution. This symposium aims atpresenting new approaches to studying scaffolding processes that are in accordance with thistransactional viewpoint. The focus lies on basic mathematics in young children, but also on thecognitive understanding of problems by older children and adults. The innovative character of thesymposium lies in its attempt to making explicit the dynamic factors and mechanisms that makethe transactional scaffolding process effective. Effectiveness is defined in creating learning andlearning potentials by the scaffold(er), and by the scaffoldee both on the short-term (onescaffolding session) and the long term (the effects on learning). The notion of “dynamics” is filledin by different speakers in accordance with whatever they think is characteristic of themicrogenetic process in various types of scaffolding, such as self-scaffolding, scaffolding in smallgroups, teacher-scaffolding of student learning; scaffold by means of schematic representations.Hardy & Stern discuss the role of visual representations in constructivist learning environments.Granott focuses on attributes of successfull vs. inefficient and other- vs. self-scaffolding in terms– 496 –