Integrating Arguments: Bottom-Up vs. Top-Down Processes

To construct arguments from multiple documents, learners need to identify macro-propositions that reflect broad claims that the documents agree or disagree with. This task is highly challenging for learners, yet it is essential for developing a coherent understanding of the documents and weighing their positions. So far, little is known about how learners construct macro-propositions while integrating multiple documents. In this study, forty ninth-grade students read a set of seven online documents on the topic of bottled mineral water and created integrative document maps. Recordings of mapping processes, cued retrospective recalls, and interviews revealed that learners engaged in a variety of top-down and bottom-up integration processes, while some students failed to construct macro-propositions. We discuss how macro-propositions emerge and what this reveals about learners' integration processes.