Processing and Learning from Multiple Sources: A Comparative Case Study of Students with Dyslexia Working in a Multiple Source Multimedia Context

This study investigated how four 10th-grade students with dyslexia processed and integrated information across web pages and representations when learning in a multiple source multimedia context. Eye movement data showed that participants’ processing of the materials varied with respect to their initial exploration of the web pages, their overall processing time, and the linearity of their processing patterns, with post-learning interviews indicating the deliberate, strategic considerations underlying each participant’s processing pattern. Eye movement data in terms of fixation duration and percentage of regressions also corroborated the findings of formal, diagnostic assessments. Finally, it was found that participants differed with respect to how much factual information they learned from working with the materials and how well they were able to integrate information across the web pages and representations, with results suggesting particular problems with learning factual information and, at the same time, constructing a coherent mental representation of the issue, as well as with drawing on textual information in the integration process. This study brings together two research areas that essentially have been kept apart in theory and research, that is, dyslexia and multimedia learning, and it provides unique information about the role of individual differences in multiple source multimedia contexts.