Technological and Societal Innovations to Cultivate Critical Reading in the Internet Era (CRITICAL) (CRITICAL)
The research was funded by Strategic Research Council at the Research Council of Finland.
Main funder
Funder's project number: 358490
Funds granted by main funder (€)
- 824 873,00
Funding program
Project timetable
Project start date: 01/10/2023
Project end date: 30/09/2026
Summary
One of the main challenges of our times is the wide and rapid spread of misinformation and disinformation on the Internet. Exposure to false information and poor critical reading skills may endanger citizens’ decision-making on important issues. Previous research suggests that adolescents lack sufficient critical reading skills to analyze, evaluate, and interpret the conflicting information they encounter. The project aims to ensure that various actors have sufficient research-based knowledge and tools to educate adolescents (aged 10–19) to have sufficient critical reading skills required in the Internet era.
The Critical project relies on a novel combination of a) systematic developmental and longitudinal research, b) evidence-based development of intelligent digital tools for assessing and enhancing critical reading skills, c) educational design experiments that iteratively scale innovations into practice, d) large-scale performance assessments with geographically representative samples and e) technological innovations to utilize AI and engage communities to create contents for critical reading education. The project develops resources aimed to support the development of critical reading skills that include critical reading assessments and games, instructional
videos, teacher training materials, validated critical reading surveys, and adaptive learning materials.
The Critical project increases understanding of the developmental pathways and factors affecting critical reading development. Systematic examination of critical reading performance across various age groups gives the first comprehensive description of how critical reading skills develop through age. Notably, the project identifies both the risk and promotive factors explaining individual differences to determine how to best support learning of critical reading at homes and schools. The project is the first to develop game-based learning materials for assessing and supporting critical graph reading. The simultaneous examination of cognitive, motivational, and emotional aspects during reading and learning advances understanding of critical reading. The developed content creation approaches
provide a high potential to reshape the practices of how learning materials are produced. Through research and interaction activities, the Critical project aspires to impact on educating critical readers.
The Critical project relies on a novel combination of a) systematic developmental and longitudinal research, b) evidence-based development of intelligent digital tools for assessing and enhancing critical reading skills, c) educational design experiments that iteratively scale innovations into practice, d) large-scale performance assessments with geographically representative samples and e) technological innovations to utilize AI and engage communities to create contents for critical reading education. The project develops resources aimed to support the development of critical reading skills that include critical reading assessments and games, instructional
videos, teacher training materials, validated critical reading surveys, and adaptive learning materials.
The Critical project increases understanding of the developmental pathways and factors affecting critical reading development. Systematic examination of critical reading performance across various age groups gives the first comprehensive description of how critical reading skills develop through age. Notably, the project identifies both the risk and promotive factors explaining individual differences to determine how to best support learning of critical reading at homes and schools. The project is the first to develop game-based learning materials for assessing and supporting critical graph reading. The simultaneous examination of cognitive, motivational, and emotional aspects during reading and learning advances understanding of critical reading. The developed content creation approaches
provide a high potential to reshape the practices of how learning materials are produced. Through research and interaction activities, the Critical project aspires to impact on educating critical readers.
Principal Investigator
Other persons related to this project (JYU)
Primary responsible unit
Follow-up groups
Profiling area: Multidisciplinary research on learning and teaching (University of Jyväskylä JYU) MultiLeTe
Related publications and other outputs
- Foundational English literacy development in India: a randomised-control trial using phonics instruction and GraphoLearn (2024) Bora, Deepti; et al.; A1; OA
- Machine learning predicts upper secondary education dropout as early as the end of primary school (2024) Psyridou, Maria; et al.; A1; OA
- Pre-service teachers evaluating online texts about learning styles : there is room for improvement in justifying the credibility (2024) Kulju, Pirjo; et al.; A1; OA
- Reading Comprehension Skills and Prior Topic Knowledge Serve as Resources When Adolescents Justify the Credibility of Multiple Online Texts (2024) Kiili, Carita; et al.; A1; OA
- The role of the home in children’s critical reading skills development (2024) Paakkari, Leena; et al.; A1; OA
Related research datasets
- Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Study (HBSC) Finland (1983-2022) (2024) Paakkari, Leena; et al.
- Interaction, Development and Learning (VUOKKO): A longitudinal study from toddlerhood to grade 5 (2024) Salminen, Jenni; et al.
- Interaction, Development and Learning (VUOKKO): Data documentation and metadata for ECEC phase and school grades 1-3 (2024) Salminen, Jenni; et al.
