Strategies for comprehension of multiple historical texts: reading profiles of secondary school students

Abstract

The aim of this investigation is to report the effects of an intervention designed to develop four strategies for evaluating the source and integration of information from multiple historical texts. For this purpose, a quasi-experimental design with one pre-test and two post-tests was carried out with the participation of two groups of high school students (experimental: N = 28, control: N = 29). The results indicate that the group in the experimental condition showed statistically significant improvements, both in the short term (one day after the intervention) and in the long term (sixty days after the intervention). These findings have allowed us to configure four reader profiles (strategic, semi-strategic, not very strategic and not strategic at all). Therefore us, in this study we provide a detailed description of the performance of strategic readers who are able to select reliable sources and use them to form an opinion. On the other hand, non-strategic readers use sources that are not reliable, and their writings do not show an argued opinion. These findings are intended as an educational guide for those who face the challenge of developing strategies that allow the management and comprehension of multiple reliable sources.