Relationships between spontaneous note‐taking, self‐reported strategies and comprehension when reading multiple texts in different task conditions

Abstract

This study investigated note‐taking during multiple‐text reading across two different task conditions in relation to comprehension performance and self‐reports of strategy use. Forty‐four undergraduates read multiple texts about climate change to write an argument or a summary. Analysis of students’ spontaneous note‐taking during reading showed that intertextual elaboration strategies, as indicated by the notes, were related to deeper‐level, integrated comprehension for students reading to construct an argument, whereas no such relationship was observed for students reading to summarise information. Relations between note‐taking and self‐reporting of strategies suggested a heightened awareness of strategy use among students reading to construct an argument, with this, possibly, explaining why their note‐taking strategies accounted for variance in their comprehension performance. Discussion focuses on the unique contributions of the current work to multiple‐text strategy research.