From Eye Fixations to Scientific Conceptual Learning: A Process Approach to the Refutation Text Effect
Year: 2012
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The thesis starts with the theoretical framework of the research work (Chapter 1). First, the studies that have investigated the relationship between conceptual change learning and text comprehension are introduced, as well as the two models of text comprehension that are particularly relevant to learning from the refutation text, the Construction-Integration (C-I) Model (Kintsch, 1988) and the Landscape Model (van den Broek, Risden, Fletcher, & Thurlow, 1996). Then, recent research that has dealt with the specific processing of refutation text (e.g., Kendeou & van den Broek, 2007) is reviewed. Finally, I described the use of eye movements in reading research, explaining how they represent an effective methodology to tap into the moment-to-moment online comprehension processes at discourse level (Hyönä, Lorch, & Rinck, 2003). Following, four studies are extensively presented (Chapters 2-5). The first was a study in which the usefulness and reliability of the eye-tracking methodology was tested, and initial evidence has been collected (Chapter 2). Findings from this study suggested that the refutation text assists readers to activate their current conceptions during the initial text processing. A conceptual conflict may be perceived during refutation text reading (van den Broek & Kendeou, 2008), requiring an intentional cognitive effort to be resolved (Sinatra & Pintrich, 2003). Finally, learning from the refutation text was positively related to strategic reading: the quality, not the quantity, of reading is entailed in deep text comprehension. In other words, it is crucial how the reading time is spent. The second study has addressed the issue of whether the refutation text effect encompasses a series of sub-processes with different time courses (the “when” of the effect), taking place on different parts of the text (the “where” of the effect) and at different stages of reading (Chapter 3). This study provided evidence that the refutation text effect is not monolithic; rather, it represents a composite effect comprehending sub-processes that take place in different parts of the text and at different stages of reading. The third study has investigated the relationship between the refutation text effect and text processing during repeated exposure with text information. The aim of this study was to reveal that the refutation nature of a text alters the well-established (Hyönä & Niemi, 1990; Hyönä, 1995; Raney & Rayner, 1993, 1995) pattern of processing during repeated reading (Chapter 4). This study particularly showed that repetition benefits are, at least in part, strategic in nature. Finally, the fourth study has been focused on the readers’ verbal working memory capacity (Burton & Daneman, 2007; Daneman & Carpenter, 1980). Specifically, it has investigated, on the one hand, whether the effectiveness of the refutation text in promoting a stronger conceptual change would be different in readers with diverse working memory capacity (lower- and higher-span readers); on the other hand, whether refutation text processing at discourse level would vary as a function of the readers’ working memory capacity (Chapter 5). Findings from this study showed that the refutation text effect is mainly related to the co-activation (Kendeou & van den Broek, 2007) of incorrect and correct conceptions about the examined phenomenon. The refutation text also facilitates the processing of text information for both lower- and higher-span readers. Readers with a lower working memory capacity span learn more when interacting with the refutation text rather than with the standard one. The thesis concludes with a final chapter (Chapter 6), which presents a general discussion of the findings emerged across the studies and indicates some potential future direction of the research.
Author: Nicola Ariasi
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W15978121