ABSTRACT
This chapter synthesizes key theories and research that inform our vision of how online collaborative inquiry and social deliberation work together in digital learning environments. It reviews current efforts to assess these constructs, including details from our emerging work under the National Assessment of Educational Progress Survey Assessment Innovations Laboratory Initiative, which is dedicated to exploring potential innovations in large-scale assessment by leveraging cognitive science research and new technologies. The chapter outlines key challenges associated with work in this area as well as implications for educational research and practice. Learners in today's knowledge society have access to an overwhelming, ever-increasing amount of information. To effectively integrate and reconcile competing perspectives while making sense of controversial issues, learners require skills in organizing, evaluating, analyzing, comparing, contrasting, and integrating information drawn from multiple documents. Across assessments, questions about digital texts seek to measure cognitive skills related to locating, evaluating, synthesizing, and communicating information, particularly from multiple documents.
