Abstracts - Earli

age. The explicitation of the rules that govern the construction of Tables and Graphs seems themost important requirement for the students’ success. Interpretation is easier than production,though our results show different levels of understanding from the more conventional ones tothose that require a higher degree of inference. Results are discussed to show the semiotic andcognitive constraints involved in Tables and Graphs handling, and a set of age adjustedinstructional guidelines is provided.M 1531 August 2007 14:35 - 15:55Room: 1.60Paper SessionReading and writingChair:David Galbraith, Staffordshire University, United KingdomAnalyzing discourse synthesis: A research study on the use of semantic information forcollaborative writing in secondary educationCrina Damsa, Utrecht University, NetherlandsGijsbert Erkens, Utrecht University, NetherlandsJeroen Janssen, Utrecht University, NetherlandsDiscourse synthesis refers to reading and writing activities within a specific type of writing task,which requires students to synthesize information from multiple textual sources and use it to writea new text. The main goal of this research was to reveal how groups of secondary educationstudents make use of semantic information from multiple sources, while undertaking acollaborative writing task. Furthermore, this study sought to identify the degree in which metacognitiveactivities specific to the discourse synthesis process are reflected in the groups’ chatdiscussions, during the execution of this task. Students performed a computer-supported writingtask based on multiple textual sources. The preliminary and final group products of 10 groups (32students), as well as the electronic discussions of the group members, were analyzed. For thisanalysis a semantic analysis instrument developed based on Kintsch and Van Dijk’s (1978)semantic representation theory was applied. In addition, the quality of the group products wasassessed using an assessment instrument. The results of the study offer an insight into discoursesynthesis activities, such as selecting and integrating semantic information units. The results pointto the quantity and the type of semantic information selected from sources, the criteria based onwhich this information was integrated in the new text, and how groups discussed these activities.Noticeable results are, for instance, the fact that groups synthesized the information selected fromsources based on ideas rather than based on authors (sources) and created new conceptualconnections among ideas form various sources; or that semantic information was integratedaccording to a content-based structure.The relationship between literature reading and creative writingTanja Janssen, University of Amsterdam, NetherlandsHein Broekkamp, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands– 713 –