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In the pre- and post-tests, students completed an online inquiry task, including phases of searching, selecting, evaluating, and synthesizing information. In Sub-study I was mainly examined whether an intervention (21 × 45 min lessons) affected sixth graders’ (N = 342) justifications for the credibility of online texts. The intervention comprised the explicit teaching of online inquiry skills and the practice of these skills in two projects. The results showed that justifying the credibility of the online texts was difficult for most sixth graders. However, after the intervention, students evaluated the source information of online texts (e.g., author and venue) more often than the control group. In Sub-study II it was explored how upper secondary school students (N = 372) justified the credibility of online texts and whether their Internet-specific epistemic justifications were related to their evaluation performance.

The results revealed considerable discrepancies in students’ abilities according to different credibility aspects (author, venue, intentions, evidence, and corroboration) and the depth of their reasoning. The students who selected more useful online texts and believed that they evaluated the authority or compared multiple texts when reading online were better at justifying the credibility of online texts. In Sub-study III it was examined whether an intervention (4 × 75 min) increased upper secondary school students’ (N = 365) sourcing skills during online inquiry. Students investigated their topic in small groups according to the questions and tasks in the working document. The teacher’s short introductions on online inquiry skills supported students’ work. Students increased their sourcing performance in search queries, credibility judgments, and written products compared with the control group. Furthermore, students with the weakest skills benefited the most from the intervention. In all Sub-studies I–III, students’ basic reading skills and the topic of the online inquiry task were associated with their critical online reading skills or the changes in their skills during the intervention.

MA (Educ.), M.Sc. (Health Sciences) Elina Hämäläinen defends her doctoral dissertation in subject "Examining and enhancing adolescents' critical online reading skills". Opponent Professor Päivi Rasi-Heikkinen (University of Lapland) and Custos Docent Eija Räikkönen (Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥) on 2 September 2023 at 12 noon. The public defense is held in Finnish. The dissertation can be read at .

Link to publication: .