Information Management During Multiple Text Use: A Mixed-Methods Investigation

• In Event: 34.029 - Multiple Text Engagement: Addressing Questions About Methods and Measurement

Abstract

Theoretical Frame
Understanding complex issues facing today’s society (e.g., climate change) requires that students be able to process and manage a large volume of information coming from a variety of sources (Rouet, 2006). In part, this requires that students be able to determine the relevance (i.e., pertinence to task) and importance (i.e., centrality in text) of information (Anmarkrud, McCrudden, Bråten, & Strømsø, 2013).
While determinations of relevance and importance have been extensively investigated when students search for information online (Kammerer & Gerjets, 2012; Rouet et al., 2011), how students make such judgments while reading multiple texts has yet to be investigated. One methodological avenue for investigating judgments of relevance and importance is examining students’ notes, recorded during text use. While the positive effects of note-taking have been previously documented (Kobayashi, 2009), students’ note-taking hss yet to be examined as an indicator of strategy use.
We have three goals. First, we examine the extent to which students’ notes include information determined to be relevant or important Second, we compare the relevance and importance of information included in students’ notes composed on paper or electronically, mediums that differ in the ease and speed with which they allow information to be recorded. Finally, we examine the association between the importance and relevance of information included in notes and response quality.
Methods
Participants were 146 undergraduate students. Students were asked to research the topic of overpopulation, using a library of six digital texts, and to write an argument about the effects of and solutions to overpopulation. While researching, students were instructed to take notes either using paper and pencil or electronically.
Students notes were coded for the number of relevant (i.e., effects or solutions to overpopulation and important (i.e., main ideas in text) statements included. Students’ responses were scored for quality and the number of task-relevant arguments included.
An additional sample of participants (n=24) were asked to think-aloud, or report what they were thinking and doing, at 90 second intervals while taking notes.
Results
While participants in the electronic note-taking condition included significantly more statements in their notes overall, [F(1, 138)=4.60, p<0.05], those in the paper notes condition included significantly more important statements, [F(1, 138)=13.58, p<0.001]. The two groups did not differ in the amount of relevant statements included, p=0.65.
There was a significant correlation between the number of relevant statements in students’ notes and the number of arguments in their responses, r(134)=0.42, p<0.01; and between the number of important statements in notes and number of texts reflected in written responses, r(134)=0.36, p<0.05.
Think-alouds determined that participants considered both relevance and importance while note-taking; additionally, students were focused on recording information that was response-relevant or that they intended to write about.
Significance
This study presents a mixed-methods investigation of students’ determinations of information relevance and importance during multiple text use. A strong association was found between the engagement of information management strategies during text use and response quality. Further, note-taking on paper seemed to confer benefits relative to electronic note-taking. Implications will be discussed.

Author

• Alexandra List, The Pennsylvania State University