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This investigation considers the relationship between test scores and a sorting task conceptual macrostructure measure based on topic-level term-term distances as Pathfinder networks. In Study 1 (n = 255), grade 7 Chinese students completed a sorting task 1 month after the traditional in-class lessons and exam. In Study 2 (n = 220), grade 8 students completed the sorting task immediately after self-directed study of a history text. In addition, a month later 68 of the students in Study 2 were further instructed to write a short essay about this content. Study 1 results showed significant correlations between the sorting task macrostructure network measures and both lesson and unit test scores. Study 2 obtained the same significant correlations between sorting task macrostructure network measures and performance on tests. In addition, in Study 2, essay conceptual networks of historical content were better for the high prior knowledge students. Both the sorting task and the essay writing task measures can complement traditional exam measures so that conceptual knowledge structure aspects of students’ learning can be identified for formative and summative purposes. 

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. 

Learning from multiple documents is an essential ability in today's society. This experimental study used concept network analysis to consider how reading prompts and post-reading generative learning tasks alter students' document integration performance. Undergraduates (N = 119) read three documents about Alzheimer's disease with one of two reading prompts (integrative purpose vs. detailed purpose) and then after reading completed a generative learning task (concept mapping vs. summary writing). Three days later they completed a delayed writing task and an inference verification test. Participants' written texts were converted to concept networks to evaluate conceptual level integration, including the quantity of integration (measured by the proportion of integrative links), the semantic quality of integration (measured by the similarity of integrative links), and the structural quality of integration (measured by comparing graph centrality). Results showed that the integrative purpose relative to the detailed purpose enhanced the quantity of integration but not the semantic and structural quality. Further, concept mapping relative to summary writing significantly improved the structural quality of integration. In addition, this study provides a new approach for evaluating different aspects of integration and contributes to multiple document comprehension literature from the perspective of concept network analysis. 

How does the conceptual structure of external representations contribute to learning? This investigation considered the influence of generative concept sorting (Study 1, n=58) and of external structure information (Study 2, n=120) moderated by perceived difficulty. In Study 1, undergraduate students completed a perceived difficulty survey and comprehension pretest, then a sorting task, and finally a comprehension posttest. Results showed that both perceived difficulty and comprehension pretest significantly predicted comprehension posttest performance. Learners who perceived that history is difficult attained significantly greater posttest scores and had more expert-like networks. In Study 2, participants completed the perceived difficulty survey and comprehension pretest, then read a text with different external structure support, either an expert network or an equivalent outline of the text, and finally completed a sorting task posttest and a comprehension posttest. In study 2, there was no significant difference for external structure support on posttest comprehension (outline = network), but reading with an outline led to a linear topic order conceptual structure of the text, while reading with a network led a more expert-like relational structure. As in Study 1, comprehension pretest and perceived difficulty significantly predicted posttest performance, but in contrast to Study 1, learners who perceived that history is easy attained significantly greater posttest scores. For theory building purposes, post-reading mental representations matched the form of the external representation used when reading. Practitioners should consider using generative sorting tasks when relearning history content.