How do topic beliefs and reading skill influence college students' evaluations of search engine results for usefulness and trustworthiness?

Abstract

Sixty-five undergraduates completed an authentic academic search result evaluation task on the topic of playing violent video games and aggression. Students evaluated a set of preselected search excerpts based on each source's usefulness and trustworthiness and justified each evaluation. Results indicated that students with stronger reading comprehension skills more appropriately evaluated unreliable information as less useful and less trustworthy. Preliminary findings suggest stronger reading comprehension skills were especially useful when evaluating the trustworthiness of unreliable information for students who had strong pre-existing beliefs that playing violent video games causes aggressive behavior. Students with stronger reading comprehension skills also utilized more critical criteria during evaluation, such as assessments about evidence and source quality.

Educational relevance statement

Stronger reading comprehension skills are associated with more appropriate and critical evaluation of search results excerpts. Students' evaluation may be constrained by their resources. Students with more cognitive resources may be able to dedicate more resources to critical evaluation. Other students may need support in utilizing strategies that promote critical evaluation.