Comprehension and critique: an examination of students’ evaluations of information in texts

While learners’ evaluations of author trustworthiness have received much attention in prior research, less work has examined how students evaluate information within texts or engage in critique. In this exploratory study, we sought to determine how effective higher education students were at engaging in research report critique, a commonly assigned academic task, and the extent to which this was associated with comprehension and integration performance. Higher education students were asked to (a) complete a variety of individual difference measures, (b) read and critique two brief research reports, and (c) answer comprehension questions and to provide an open-ended written response to capture integration. Key findings included that students most commonly generated research-methods based critiques (e.g., considering sample size or the use of self-report) and that comprehension performance predicted the number of valid critiques generated, while both knowledge of research methods and comprehension performance predicted open-ended integration. Finally, integration performance and critique generation were significantly associated. Implications and future directions for fostering students’ abilities to engage in critique are discussed.

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Reading and Writing. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11145-023-10417-3

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Work Title Comprehension and critique: an examination of students’ evaluations of information in texts
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Alexandra List
  2. Gala S. Campos Oaxaca
Keyword
  1. Critique
  2. Evaluation
  3. Critical thinking
  4. Comprehension
  5. Learning from multiple texts
  6. Integration
License In Copyright (Rights Reserved)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. Reading and Writing
Publication Date March 18, 2023
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-023-10417-3
Deposited March 12, 2024

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Version 1
published

  • Created
  • Added List.Campos_Oaxaca.2023.COMPREHENSION_AND_CRITIQUE-_AN_EXAMINATION_OF_STUDENTS__EVALUATIONS_OF_INFORMATION_IN_TEXTS.pdf
  • Added Creator Alexandra List
  • Added Creator Gala S Campos Oaxaca
  • Published
  • Updated Keyword, Publication Date Show Changes
    Keyword
    • Critique, Evaluation, Critical thinking, Comprehension, Learning from multiple texts, Integration
    Publication Date
    • 2023-01-01
    • 2023-03-18
  • Renamed Creator Gala S. Campos Oaxaca Show Changes
    • Gala S Campos Oaxaca
    • Gala S. Campos Oaxaca
  • Updated