Abstract This study investigated whether a teacher-led intervention program on online inquiry improved sixth graders' performance in a credibility evaluation task. Students (N = 342) were divided into two conditions, an intervention group (190 students) and a control group (152 students). The intervention program (21 × 45 min lessons) was implemented during a six-week course as a part of normal schoolwork. The program included explicit teaching of online inquiry skills: searching for information (3 lessons), evaluating credibility of information (3 lessons), and synthesizing information (3 lessons). In addition, the skills taught were applied in two online inquiry projects comprising 12 lessons in total. The control group received business-as-usual teaching. Students’ performance in the credibility evaluation task was measured before and after the program by pre- and post-tests. In these tests, students evaluated three Web pages dealing with two topics (Computer Gaming or Reading on Screen) varying in their perspectives and argumentation. Students rated the credibility of each Web page and justified their ratings. Topic order was counterbalanced in both conditions. The background variables (Pre-test scores, Reading comprehension, Reading fluency, Gender, Topic order, and Test order in the pre-test) were controlled for in the multilevel negative binomial regression analysis. The results showed that the intervention program helped students better justify their credibility ratings by reference to source features but not to the argumentation or other aspects of the content compared to controls. Instructional implications of the findings are discussed.

中文翻译：

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提高六年级学生的网页可信度评价：一项干预研究

摘要 本研究调查了教师主导的在线探究干预计划是否提高了六年级学生在可信度评估任务中的表现。学生（N = 342）被分为两种情况，干预组（190 名学生）和对照组（152 名学生）。干预计划（21 × 45 分钟课程）在为期六周的课程中实施，作为正常学校作业的一部分。该计划包括在线探究技能的显式教学：搜索信息（3课）、评估信息的可信度（3课）和综合信息（3课）。此外，所教授的技能应用于两个在线探究项目，共 12 节课。对照组接受一切照旧的教学。学生在可信度评估任务中的表现是在课程前后通过前测和后测来衡量的。在这些测试中，学生评估了三个网页，涉及两个主题（计算机游戏或屏幕阅读），他们的观点和论证各不相同。学生对每个网页的可信度进行评级并证明他们的评级是合理的。在这两种情况下，主题顺序都是平衡的。在多级负二项回归分析中控制了背景变量（预测试分数、阅读理解、阅读流畅度、性别、主题顺序和预测试顺序）。结果表明，与对照相比，干预计划帮助学生通过参考来源特征而不是论证或内容的其他方面来更好地证明他们的可信度评级。