Abstract
Integrating information from across multiple sources is an important science literacy skill that involves the following: identifying intra- and intertextual ties, modeling relationships between sources and claims and making an evaluation of the claims made. Tasks that involve reading, interpreting and synthesizing multiple sources have been well explored particularly in the epistemic cognition literature. Interdisciplinarity is a growing area of interest in science education, in terms of the ways we induct students into interdisciplinary ways of thinking and working, including the synthesis of knowledge from across scientific disciplines. While interdisciplinary contexts frequently involve connecting multiple sources from different disciplines, how students complete these text-integration tasks has not been well investigated. This paper develops a model of interdisciplinary text integration for science literacy, drawing on dimensions of epistemic cognition. We exemplify the application of this approach in a specific case of environmental science graduate students, drawing on student syntheses to illustrate how our approach can be used to differentiate between students’ written syntheses.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anmarkrud, Ø., Bråten, I., & Strømsø, H. I. (2014). Multiple-documents literacy: strategic processing, source awareness, and argumentation when reading multiple conflicting documents. Learning and Individual Differences, 30, 64–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2013.01.007.
Bammer, G. (2013). Disciplining interdisciplinarity: integration and implementation sciences for researching complex real-world problems. In Disciplining interdisciplinarity. ANU E Press.
Barzilai, S., & Eshet-Alkalai, Y. (2015). The role of epistemic perspectives in comprehension of multiple author viewpoints. Learning and Instruction, 36, 86–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2014.12.003.
Barzilai, S., & Ka’adan, I. (2017). Learning to integrate divergent information sources: the interplay of epistemic cognition and epistemic metacognition. Metacognition and Learning, 12(2), 193–232. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-016-9165-7.
Boix Mansilla, V. (2006). Assessing expert interdisciplinary work at the frontier: an empirical exploration. Research Evaluation, 15(1), 17–29. https://doi.org/10.3152/147154406781776075.
Borrego, M., & Newswander, L. K. (2010). Definitions of interdisciplinary research: toward graduate-level interdisciplinary learning outcomes. The Review of Higher Education, 34(1), 61–84. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2010.0006.
Bråten, I. (2008). Personal epistemology, understanding of multiple texts, and learning within Internet technologies. In M. S. Khine (Ed.), Knowing, knowledge and beliefs (pp. 351–376). Netherlands: Springer http://www.springerlink.com/content/j664674514614405/.
Bråten, I., Britt, M. A., Strømsø, H. I., & Rouet, J.-F. (2011). The role of epistemic beliefs in the comprehension of multiple expository texts: toward an integrated model. Educational Psychologist, 46(1), 48–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2011.538647.
Bråten, I., Braasch, J. L. G., Strømsø, H. I., & Ferguson, L. E. (2014). Establishing trustworthiness when students read multiple documents containing conflicting scientific evidence. Reading Psychology, 1–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/02702711.2013.864362, 36.
Britt, M. A., & Rouet, J.-F. (2012). Learning with multiple documents: component skills and their acquisition. In Kiby J.R, & Lawson M.J. ,. (Eds.), Enhancing the quality of learning: dispositions, instruction, and learning processes. Cambridge University Press.
Ferguson, L. E. (2014). Epistemic beliefs and their relation to multiple-text comprehension: a Norwegian program of research. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 59, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2014.971863.
Goldman, S. R., Lawless, K., Pellegrino, J. W., & Gomez, K. (2012). A Technology for Assessing Multiple Source Comprehension: an essential skill of the 21st century. In M. Mayrath (Ed.), Technology-based assessments for 21st century skills: theoretical and practical implications from modern research. Information Age Publishing (IAP).
Goldman, S. R., Lawless, K., & Manning, F. (2013). Research and development of multiple source comprehension assessment. In M. A. Britt, S. R. Goldman, & J.-F. Rouet (Eds.), Reading: from words to multiple texts (pp. 180–199). New York: Routledge.
Gosselin, D., Thompson, K., Pennington, D., Vincent, S. (2020). Learning to be an interdisciplinary researcher: incorporating training about dispositional and epistemological differences into graduate student environmental science teams. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-020-00605-w.
Hofer, B. K., & Pintrich, P. R. (2002). Personal epistemology: the psychology of beliefs about knowledge and knowing. Routledge.
Klein, J. T. (2008). Education. In G. H. Hadorn, S. Biber-Klemm, W. Grossenbacher-Mansuy, H. Hoffmann-Riem, D. Joye, C. Pohl, U. Wiesmann, & E. Zemp (Eds.), Handbook of transdisciplinary research (Vol. 10, pp. 399–410). Springer.
Klein, P. D., & Boscolo, P. (2016). Trends in research on writing as a learning activity. Journal of Writing Research, 7, 311–350. https://doi.org/10.17239/jowr-2016.07.03.01.
Knight, S., & Thompson, K. (2018). Developing a text-integration task for investigating and teaching interdisciplinarity in science teams. In Kay, J., & Luckin, R. (Eds.) Rethinking Learning in the Digital Age: Making the Learning Sciences Count, 13th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2018 (Vol. 3). London: International Society of the Learning Sciences.
Lélé, S., & Norgaard, R. B. (2005). Practicing interdisciplinarity. BioScience, 55(11), 967–975. https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2005)055[0967:PI]2.0.CO;2.
OECD. (2013). PISA 2015: draft reading literacy framework. OECD Publishing. http://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/Draft%20PISA%202015%20Reading%20Framework%20.pdf.
OECD, & Statistics Canada. (2000). Literacy in the Information Age—final report of the International Adult Literacy Survey. OECD. http://www.oecd.org/edu/skills-beyond-school/41529765.pdf
Pennington, D. (2016). A conceptual model for knowledge integration in interdisciplinary teams: orchestrating individual learning and group processes. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 6(2), 300–312. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-015-0354-5.
Pennington, D., Bammer, G., Danielson, A., Gosselin, D., Gouvea, J., Habron, G., Hawthorne, D., Parnell, R., Thompson, K., Vincent, S., & Wei, C. (2016). The EMBeRS project: employing model-based reasoning in socio-environmental synthesis. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 6(2), 278–286. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-015-0335-8.
Rouet, J.-F. (2006). The skills of document use: from text comprehension to web-based learning (1st ed.). Routledge.
Solé, I., Miras, M., Castells, N., Espino, S., & Minguela, M. (2013). Integrating information: an analysis of the processes involved and the products generated in a written synthesis task. Written Communication, 30(1), 63–90. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088312466532.
Sormunen, E., Heinström, J., Romu, L., & Turunen, R. (2012). A method for the analysis of information use in source-based writing. Information Research: An International Electronic Journal, 17(4), n4 http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ995300.
Stadtler, M., & Bromme, R. (2014). The content–source integration model: a taxonomic description of how readers comprehend conflicting scientific information. Processing inaccurate information: theoretical and applied perspectives from cognitive science and the educational sciences, 379–402.
Thompson, K., Danielson, A., Gosselin, D., Knight, S., Martinez-Maldonado, R., Parnell, R., … Wheeler, P. (2017). Designing the EMBeRS summer school: Connecting stakeholders in learning, teaching and research. In Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Computers in Education. Presented at the New Zealand. New Zealand: Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education.
Thompson, K., Gouvea, J. S., & Habron, G. (2016). A design approach to understanding the activity of learners in interdisciplinary settings: environment and diversity. Transforming Learning, Empowering Learners.
Vogler, J. S., Thompson, P., Davis, D. W., Mayfield, B. E., Finley, P. M., & Yasseri, D. (2018). The hard work of soft skills: augmenting the project-based learning experience with interdisciplinary teamwork. Instructional Science, 46(3), 457–488. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-017-9438-9.
Acknowledgements
Our thanks to the EmBERS researchers and students, Penny Wheeler and David Williamson Shaffer for their helpful conversations on an earlier draft of this work, and Sue Chapman for her assistance in analysis.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Knight, S., Thompson, K. Developing a Text-Integration Task for Investigating and Teaching Interdisciplinarity in Science Teams. Res Sci Educ 52, 191–203 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-020-09937-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-020-09937-7