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Abstract Most STEM classrooms overlook the intrinsic conceptual structure of domain content, strategies for improving students’ conceptual structure have promise for improving STEM learning outcomes. This experimental investigation continues the development of the web-based toolGraphical Interface of Knowledge Structure (GIKS)that provides immediate formative feedback as a network of concepts in the student’s essays alongside an expert referent network for comparison and reflection. What should this feedback network look like, especially, should it be more inclusive or small and focused? And is preexisting domain knowledge important for type of network feedback effectiveness? Undergraduate students in a second year Architecture Engineering course, after completing a 2-weeks long lesson on Building with Wood, were randomly assigned to a summary writing task with either Full feedback (a network with 14 central and 12 peripheral terms) or Focused feedback (a network with only the 14 central terms), and then immediately completed a knowledge structure survey. Two weeks later, they completed an End-of-Unit posttest that consisted of a Central-items and a Peripheral-items subtests. A significant interaction of feedback and domain knowledge was observed for post knowledge structure, the low domain knowledge students in the Focus feedback group had the most central link-agreement with the expert and the least peripheral links agreement. On the End-of-Unit declarative knowledge posttest, there was no difference for the Full or Focused feedback interventions, but the high domain knowledge students in both interventions performed significantly better than the low domain knowledge students on the central-items subtest butnoton the peripheral-items subtest. This investigation shows the need for further research on the role of domain-normative central concepts and pragmatically contributes to the design of essay prompts for STEM classroom use. 

Abstract Theories and practices to enhance multiple document comprehension and integration are crucial in both personal and work contexts, especially with the proliferation of printed and online sources. This experimental investigation replicates and extends (Wei et al., Educational Technology Research and Development 72:661–685, 2024) to examine how multiple documents integration is influenced by reading purpose, summary writing, and extra-textual networks (pre-reading, Study 1, and post-writing, Study 2). In Study 1 (N = 102), participants were randomly assigned to a pre-reading purpose set by a prompt (integrative or detailed) and by a network (an integrative or else an intra-text network) and then read three documents about Alzheimer’s disease to complete a writing task with revision (but no feedback). Three days later, they completed a delayed writing task and an inference verification test. In Study 2 (N = 90), the same procedure was used except that the network was used as feedback after writing to support revision. Results from the two studies agree with the previous research that the quantity and structural quality of integration can be improved by external cues and by delayed repeated writing. This research further confirms an innovative approach for evaluating different aspects of knowledge integration and contributes to the literature from the concept network perspective as a measure and an intervention of multiple-text reading.