Abstract High school students can access original scientific research articles on the
Internet, but may have trouble understanding them. To address this problem of online
literacy, the authors developed a computer-based prototype for guiding students’ comprehension
of scientific articles. High school students were asked to read an original
scientific research article about the effects of drug or alcohol abuse, which was presented
on a computer screen either with computer-based comprehension aids or without aids. The
aids provided background text and animations including answers given by the article
authors. Across two experiments involving different schools and different research articles,
the comprehension aids group performed better than the control group on a comprehension
test concerning the article (d = +0.79 in Experiment 1 and d = +0.82 in Experiment 2)
and rated the content of article as less difficult to read (d = +0.96 in Experiment 1 and
d = +0.69 in Experiment 2). In addition, the comprehension aids group reported more
positive motivational beliefs than the control group concerning understanding what scientists
do (d = +0.51 in Experiment 1 and d = +0.56 in Experiment 2), appraising the
article as worthwhile (d = +0.80 for Experiment 1 and d = +0.70 for Experiment 2), and
being interested in reading another research article (d = +0.19 in Experiment 1 and
d = +0.58 in Experiment 2). The groups did not differ on their attitudes concerning a
career as a scientist or about alcohol and drug abuse. Overall, computer-based comprehension
aids can help guide students’ comprehension processes for an original scientific
research article, which in turn can improve their appreciation of what scientists do