General description on research questions, objectives and theoretical framework

Pupils of today encounter enormous amounts of information, which contain different perspectives on one topic or a situation, or multiple texts (Britt & Rouet, 2012). In and out of school, pupils encounter conflicting information on the Internet in the form of social media, websites, magazines, articles and blogs, and through reading textbooks. Problem solving tasks involving such information require that the pupils frame and link information and transform this into knowledge and skills. This is also understood as metacognitive processes based on formative assessment. In this study, we investigate 7^th graders’ (N=30), information processing. Moreover, we investigate to what extent individual differences influence how pupils seek internal feedback and process information from multiple, partly contradictory texts. In the current project we hold a future perspective on education by adopting a comprehensive definition of the concept “Deeper learning” as we find it explained by Wineburg (1991). This is competence that pupils’ need in order to work with information from different, partly contradictory sources. This is to identify the source of each document, compare and contrast across sources, corroborate the veracity and the accuracy of sources, evaluating and contextualize (Rouet, 2006), in order to promote deeper learning.

In the educational system, the promoting of deeper learning and development of 21^st century skills is considerable (Goldman & Pellegrino, 2015). Business leaders, educational organizations, and researchers are calling for the development of broad, transferable skills and knowledge, often described as deeper learning (Goldman & Pellegrino, 2015). The availability and accessibility of abundant information sources undoubtedly afford unique learning opportunities, but they also represent challenges for most readers regardless of age (Rouet, 2006). Moreover, studies show that there are some differences in how skilled and less skilled readers work with multiple texts (Goldman et al., 2012). A think aloud study by Goldman and colleagues (2012) showed that skilled readers produced more self-explanations and evaluated the quality of the texts more extensively than the less-skilled readers. Further, prior studies show how pupils need to detect important information while identifying and evaluating contradictory or consistent information (Britt & Rouet, 2012).

Although there is a growing body of research of learning and instruction, there is a need for transferring this knowledge from the research in order to affect the design and of everyday schooling in the form of curriculum, instruction and assessment.

Thus, we wanted to explore individual differences in how primary school pupils are processing multiple, partly contradictory texts, to what extent their reading strategy skills are related to detecting contradictory information in the texts,and to what internal feedback they seek. Knowledge on how pupils seek and use feedback (Hattie & Timperley, 2007) in order to resolve problems and for self-regulation (Andrade, 2010; Zimmerman, 2002), is by us understood as a hinge in “deeper learning”. Zimmerman (2002) argues that self-regulation is not a mental ability or an academic performance skill; rather it is the self-directive process by which learners transform their mental abilities into academic skills. In this paper we address the following research questions.

1. 1.      How do pupils process multiple, partly contradictory texts to facilitate deeper learning?
2. 2.      To what extent do individual differences influence how pupils seek internal feedback and process information from multiple, partly contradictory texts?

Andrade, H. (2010). Pupils as the definitive source of formative assessment. I: Handbook of formative assessment. H: Andrade & G. Cizek (Eds), p.90-105. New York: Routhledge. Britt, M. A., & Rouet, J.-F. (2012). Learning with multiple documents. In: M. J. Lawson & J. R. Kirby (Eds.) The Quality of Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ericsson, K. A., & Simon, H. A. (1980/1993). Protocol analysis: Verbal reports as data. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Goldman, S. R., Braasch, J. L. G., Wiley, J., Graesser, A. C., & Brodwinska, K. (2012). Comprehending and Learning From Internet Sources: Processing Patterns of Better Comprehending and Poorer learners. Reading Research Quarterly, 47(4), 356-381. Goldman, S. R. & Pellegrino, J.W. (2015). Research on Learning and Instruction. Implications for Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 2(1), 33-41. Hattie, J. & Timperley, H. (2007). The Power of Feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81–112. Høien, T., & Tønnesen, G. (1997). Ordkjedetesten [Word Chain Test]. Stavanger: Dysleksiforeningen. Rogne, W.M. & Strømsø, H.I. (2013). Lesing av multiple, delvis motstridende tekster i syvende klasse. Acta Didactica. http://adno.no/index.php/adno/article/view/254. Rouet, J.-F. (2006). The skills of document use: From text comprehension to Web-based learning. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Strømsø, H. I., & Bråten, I. (2002). Norwegian Law Pupils' Use of Multiple Sources While Reading Expository Texts. Reading Research Quarterly, 37(2), 208-227. Vidal-Abarca, E., Martínez, T., Salmeron, L., Cerdán, R., Gilabert, R., Gil, L., Mañá, A., Llorens, A., & Ferris, R. (2011). Recording online processes in task-oriented reading with Read&Answer. Behavior Research Methods, 43(1), 179-192. Wineburg, S. S. (1991). Historical problem solving: A study of cognitive processes used in the evaluation of documentary and pictorial evidence. Journal of Educational Psychology, 83, 73-87. Wolfe, M. B. W., & Goldman, S. R. (2005). Relations between Adolescents' Text Processing and Reasoning. Cognition and Instruction, 23(4), 467-502. Yin, R. K. (2003). Case Study Research Design and Methods. CA: Sage Publications. Zimmerman, B. J. (2002). Becoming a Self-Regulated Learner: An Overview. Theory into Practice, 41(2), 64-70.