Toward a typology of integration: Examining the documents model framework

Drawing on the Documents Model Framework, in two studies we investigate the types of multiple text models (e.g., mush model, separate representations model, documents model) reflected in students’ written responses, composed based on multiple texts. In among the first studies to holistically code written responses for the type of multiple text models they reflect, we find evidence for all of the multiple text representations specified in the Documents Model. We further examine the types of integration, or cross-textual connections, featured in students’ responses, including evidentiary (i.e., corroborating evidence), thematic (i.e., comparing main ideas across texts), and contextual (i.e., comparing meta-textual information, like author expertise) connections. Finally, we associate the types of multiple text models reflected in students’ written responses with various measures of integration, including the number of discourse connectives and citations included and self-reports of strategy use (Study 1), as well as with integrative utterances reported during a cued think-aloud (Study 2).