We are happy to share exciting news! EduLit members have received four-year funding from the Research Council of Finland for the Develop project: Prior knowledge and skills in online credibility evaluation: Individual differences and developmental trajectories among upper secondary school students.
The project will develop a scenario-based assessment to measure different types of prior knowledge relevant to online credibility evaluation.
– Prior knowledge in credibility evaluation has, so far, been examined very narrowly. Therefore, I am particularly excited about this opportunity! I envision that we will deepen and broaden our understanding of the role prior knowledge plays in credibility evaluation, shares associate professor Carita Kiili, leader of the Tampere team.
The Develop project will examine how students’ online credibility evaluation skills develop during upper secondary education. We will follow students over three years, assessing their online credibility evaluation skills and relevant prior knowledge at the beginning of their first, second, and third years of study.
– The longitudinal approach will allow us to explore individual differences in students’ development, identify various developmental trajectories, and understand the factors influencing them, explains senior lecturer Eija Räikkönen, who leads the team at the University of Jyväskylä.
The Develop project extends the work of the Critical project–funded by the Strategic Research Council–which focuses on supporting adolescents’ critical reading skills.
– The new funding ensures that we can continue supporting teachers in their essential work of educating critical online readers, emphasizes Elina Hämäläinen, the Critical project’s interaction coordinator.
The project enables us to continue our fruitful collaboration with emeritus professor Ivar Bråten, University of Oslo, professor Julie Coiro, University of Rhode Island, and associate professor Christian Tarchi, University of Florence.
We will get started in September 2025 after the EARLI conference in Graz where Carita Kiili will present the framework for prior knowledge in online credibility evaluation that will guide our work.
Picture: Thumbs up for the collaboration between Tampere University and the University of Jyväskylä!