Adolescents’ comprehension of single vs. multiple digital sources

The capability to understand information originating from multiple documents is a central component of learning with digital media. We tested theory-based predictions that multiple source reading is cognitively more demanding than single source reading, such that comprehension accuracy is lower for multiple source reading, and that successful multiple source comprehension is more reliant on effort, i.e., the time spent on the reading task. Using PISA-2018 data from 44 countries (N = 341,591), we tested the effect of source type (single vs. multiple), time on task, and their interaction on reading comprehension, while statistically controlling for student and item-level confounds. Our results supported the theory-based predictions that multiple source comprehension presents particular challenges to comprehension and that longer time on task is particularly beneficial to comprehension when dealing with multiple sources. Providing students with support with how best to use this additional time while processing multiple sources thus appears particularly pressing.