Stahl, et al (1998) found that using multiple-text sources can only be effective if we are taught to use them properly. As beginners, we tend to be more consistent in what information we select from short, well-constructed texts. Longer, less structured documents tend to be more confusing.
Text books
- provide a foundation of facts and viewpoints to provide an overview
- sequence information and facts to understand issues
- create a context for comparing and understanding other sources
- are written in a neutral, objective tone
Problems with a single text
for a subject or course include:
- information is often "academic"
lacking the drama of real life experience, adventure, and experimentation - bias is hidden or concealed
ignoring competing facts, priorities, minority viewpoints - a single interpretation limits how reported facts are prioritized/sequenced
restricting viewpoint (Euro/Caucasian) or subject testing (white male) - original/eyewitness sources of information are secondary to interpretative accounts
Additional readings and alternative sources
of information can assist you to
- create a richer understanding
with additional information and perspective - interact or engage with facts, actors, circumstances
of the material - practice and familiarize
yourself with new subject vocabulary and concepts - process opposing, even conflicting,
points of view in order to assess, evaluate, defend
Conflicting information however can impede your learning,
unless you can
- analyze it for commonalties
- reorganize or synthesize
your model for understanding it - consider the impact of, and evaluate, conflicts
- filter it with athe context presented in the basic text
Some Recommendations:
- Read your text
to provide the factual framework from which to begin
(see also Taking notes from a text book) - Proceed to shorter, more focused sources
of information expecially if you are inexpereinced in the subject - Practice with multiple texts to improve your evaluative skills:
- compare and contrast your sources
- analyze them for bias or viewpoint
- note when and where they were written, and how that affects the viewpoint
- Understand the connections
between events, actors, and circumstances rather than learn a series of "facts" which can be easily be forgotten - Use in-class or on-line discussion time
to test your understanding and ask questions!
