Source evaluation during internet reading in Argentinian secondary students: a preregistered intervention study
Abstract
This pre-post intervention study with a control group tested whether an educational intervention adapted from Pérez et al. (2018) improved source evaluation skills (about publication media and author trustworthiness) in secondary students. Participants (control group: n=50, intervention group: n=38) had to choose between two contradictory documents (content and source), only one of which was a trustworthy source, and justify their selection, in an initial pre-test; and post intervention, in immediate and delayed (5-6 weeks) posttests. In GLMM analyses, the interaction of Phase*Group was not significant for source selection in immediate or delayed posttest, against pre-registered hypotheses. Analyses of justifications showed a Phase*Group interaction effect: the intervention group mentioned more source characteristics (author position, publication media) than the control group, for both the immediate, _=0.93, 95%CI=[0.61,1.25], p<.001, and delayed posttests, _=0.99, 95%CI=[0.68,1.31], p<.001. These results support the efficacy of the intervention in improving sourcing skills among secondary students.