Ninth-Grade Students Possess Good Sourcing Skills but Do Not Apply Them Spontaneously While Reading

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

Abstract

The goal of our study was to examine how adolescents treat source information while reading. To this end, 41 ninth graders completed a series of reading assignments that varied in terms of complexity. Our study results suggest that readers do, in fact, possess pertinent sourcing skills. However, when engaging in a reading task requiring them to simultaneously pay attention to complex content information, their attention to sources was reduced to a minimum. We conclude that readers at this stage may still have problems handling the complex demands of reading from multiple sources. Educational implications of the findings are briefly discussed.

Authors

• Marc Stadtler, University of Münster

• Stephanie Babiel

• Jean-Francois Rouet, CNRS and University of Poitiers

• Rainer F. Bromme, University of Münster