Many truths, many knowledges, many forms of reason : Understanding middle-school student approaches to sources of information on the internet
Journal article
Scholes, Laura, McDonald, Sarah, Stahl, Garth and Comber, Barbara. (2023). Many truths, many knowledges, many forms of reason : Understanding middle-school student approaches to sources of information on the internet. British Educational Research Journal. pp. 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3909
Authors | Scholes, Laura, McDonald, Sarah, Stahl, Garth and Comber, Barbara |
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Abstract | Sourcing information related to socio-scientific issues requires sophisticated literacies to read and evaluate conflicting accounts often signified by disagreement among experts, multiple solutions or misinformation. Much of the previous work exploring how young people approach conflicting information has tended to focus on students in the secondary and tertiary years, often taking an epistemic approach to analysis, rather than a literacies lens. At the heart of such endeavours, however, is the need for sophisticated reading skills accelerated by shifts to digital platforms to source information. Given the limited empirical studies in the field of literacy that articulate how middle school students approach sources of information, this study investigates 45 middle school students’ (13–14 years of age) self-reported strategies for investigating health risks associated with mobile phone use. We asked the students to imagine that a close friend was worried about the health risks of using their mobile phone and had asked them for advice. Students were then prompted to describe how they would search for information about the issue and how they would know if the information was reliable. Our analysis identified three dominant themes in the interview data, namely: (i) mistrust of the internet—people can be reliable sources; (ii) reliable sourcing requires consensus across sources; and (iii) criteria help to determine a reliable source. An interesting finding was the level of scepticism of the internet expressed by students. We draw on examples from the students’ interview dialogue to illustrate the themes and engage in discourse related to their approaches including implications for teaching in English classrooms. |
Keywords | digital; literacies; literacies; reading; socio-scientific; sourcing |
Year | 2023 |
Journal | British Educational Research Journal |
Journal citation | pp. 1-20 |
Publisher | John Wiley & Sons Ltd |
ISSN | 0141-1926 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3909 |
Scopus EID | 2-s2.0-85169578790 |
Open access | Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access |
Page range | 1-20 |
Funder | University of South Australia |
Publisher's version | License File Access Level Open |
Output status | In press |
Publication dates | |
Online | 01 Sep 2023 |
Publication process dates | |
Accepted | 17 Aug 2023 |
Deposited | 05 Oct 2023 |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8zv29/many-truths-many-knowledges-many-forms-of-reason-understanding-middle-school-student-approaches-to-sources-of-information-on-the-internet
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Publisher's version
OA_Scholes_2023_Many_truths_many_knowledges_many_forms.pdf | |
License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 | |
File access level: Open |
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