Supporting Inquiry Learning From Multiple Documents in History and Science

• In Event: How Learners Use, Integrate, and Evaluate Multiple Sources of Information

Abstract

Learning from multiple document inquiry tasks introduces an extra layer of processing (Kintsch, 1998; Rouet & Britt, 2011). This requires students to engage in constructive activity while reading text and interpreting graphics, which in turn may cause students to develop better mental models of phenomena (Graesser & Bertus, 2009; Wiley & Voss, 1999). Yet, readers vary in taking advantage of this opportunity (Braten, Britt, Stromso, & Rouet, 2011; Griffin, Wiley, Britt, & Salas, 2012). This work explored whether informing students about the nature of explanations (i.e. that they are generally made up of a chain or network of causes rather than singular causes) would facilitate better understanding from multiple document inquiry tasks.

Authors

• Jennifer Wiley, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Thomas D. Griffin, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Andrew Taylor, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Allison J. Jaeger, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Anne Britt, Northern Illinois University