Do you know what you are reading for? Exploring the effects of a task model enhancement on fifth graders' purposeful reading

Abstract

BackgroundDrawing on theories of purposeful reading, this study explored task conditions that support fifth graders' selective reading of documents in order to answer questions. More specifically, we investigated whether promoting students' elaboration of their task model increases task performance.MethodsParticipants had to answer series of questions by searching documents for the relevant information. Half the participants received a task model prompt, and half received a control prompt. Participants' eye movements were recorded during text search, in order to investigate more precisely the effect of an enhanced task model.ResultsParticipants provided more correct answers in the task model condition than in the control condition, but there was no difference in response time. Unexpectedly, eye movement analysis did not reveal any differences between conditions concerning the number of visits and visit time to relevant and irrelevant areas of the document.ConclusionsA better representation of the information to be searched facilitated students' identification of relevant information. Unexpectedly, however, the task conditions did not result in any significant difference in students' patterns of document search.HighlightsWhat is already know about this topic Experienced readers adapt their behaviour to task demands. Purposeful reading is challenging for children, but little is known about how to support them. What this paper adds This study highlights the importance of constructing a coherent task model in order to answer specific questions from text This study reports eye movement data about the selective reading patterns of a population seldom studied in this domain (i.e., children). Implications for theory, policy or practice This study offers a means to enhance purposeful reading that is easily applicable in a classroom situation.