Effects of the reading medium on the text comprehension of university students
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Argentinian university students face serious difficulties in text comprehension. In addition, screen reading has become more popular, but there is evidence of worse comprehension outcomes. The aim of the study was to compare the comprehension of an expository text read on paper, PC, or smartphone among first-year students of Engineering and Health Sciences. In addition, we aimed to explore the effects of their study field, reading habits and vocabulary skills on comprehension, as well as potential interactions with the reading medium. The study had an experimental design, and the sample consisted of 128 students (average age: 18.6 ± 2.61 years). They read an expository text in three experimental conditions: paper, PC, or smartphone. Vocabulary skills and reading habits were also assessed. Comprehension performance was worse for those reading on smartphone (compared to PC). Engineering freshmen with lower vocabulary performed worse on smartphones than on PC and paper. Engineering freshmen performed better in all reading media, which could not be attributed to their vocabulary or reading habits. Our results suggest higher cognitive costs, distractions, or a lesser reading depth on smartphones. The observed advantage in engineering students could be explained by differences in their educational trajectory or cognitive abilities.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The articles published at Ocnos will have a Creative Common Licence Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported
Downloads
References
Abusamra, V., Cartoceti, R., Ferreres, A., De-Beni, R., & Cornoldi, C. (2009). La comprensión de textos desde un enfoque multicomponencial. El Test “Leer para comprender”. Ciencias Psicológicas, 3(2), 193-200. https://doi.org/10.22235/cp.v3i2.151
Abusamra, V., Difalcis, M., Martínez, G., Low, D. M., & Formoso, J. (2020). Cognitive skills involved in reading Comprehension of adolescents with low educational opportunities. Languages, 5(3), 34. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages5030034
Acheson, D. J., Wells, J. B., & MacDonald, M. C. (2008). New and updated tests of print exposure and reading abilities in college students. Behavior Research Methods, 40(1), 278-289. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.40.1.278
Ackerman, R., & Lauterman, T. (2012). Taking reading comprehension exams on screen or on paper? A metacognitive analysis of learning texts under time pressure. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(5), 1816-1828. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.04.023
Amavizca-Montaño, S., & Álvarez-Flores, E. P. (2022). Comprensión lectora en universitarios: Comparativo por áreas de conocimiento. Revista Electrónica de Investigación Educativa, 24, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.24320/redie.2022.24.e20.3986
Barrio-Cantalejo, I. M., Simón-Lorda, P., Melguizo, M., Escalona, I., Marijuán, M. I., & Hernando, P. (2008). Validación de la Escala INFLESZ para evaluar la legibilidad de los textos dirigidos a pacientes. Anales del Sistema Sanitario de Navarra, 31(2), 135-152. https://recyt.fecyt.es/index.php/ASSN/article/view/1953/1390
Clinton-Lisell, V. (2019). Reading from paper compared to screens: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Journal of Research in Reading, 42(2), 288-325. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12269
Clinton-Lisell, V., Taylor, T., Carlson, S. E., Davison, M. L., & Seipel, B. (2022). Performance on reading comprehension assessments and college achievement: A meta-analysis. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 52(3), 191-211. https://doi.org/10.1080/10790195.2022.2062626
Cotton, A., Benedetti, P., & Abusamra, V. (2023). Reading comprehension on smartphones, A comparison with computers. Cuadernos de Lingüística Hispánica, 41, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.19053/0121053X.n41.2023.16032
De-la-Peña, C., & Luque-Rojas, M. J. (2021). Levels of reading comprehension in higher education: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.712901
Delgado, P., Vargas, C., Ackerman, R., & Salmerón, L. (2018). Don’t throw away your printed books: A meta-analysis on the effects of reading media on reading comprehension. Educational Research Review, 25, 23-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2018.09.003
Duke, N. K., & Cartwright, K. B. (2021). The science of reading progresses: Communicating advances beyond the simple view of reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 56(S1). https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.411
Flores-Mendoza, C., Ardila, R., Gallegos, M., & Reategui-Colareta, N. (2021). General intelligence and socioeconomic status as strong predictors of student performance in Latin American schools: Evidence From PISA Items. Frontiers in Education, 6, 632289. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.632289
Fontaine, G., Zagury-Orly, I., Maheu-Cadotte, M. A., Lapierre, A., Thibodeau-Jarry, N., Denus, S. D., Lordkipanidzé, M., Dupont, P., & Lavoie, P. (2021). A meta-analysis of the effect of paper versus digital reading on Reading Comprehension in Health Professional Education. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 85(10), 8525. https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe8525
Froud, K., Levinson, L., Maddox, C., & Smith, P. (2024). Middle-schoolers’ reading and lexical-semantic processing depth in response to digital and print media: An N400 study. PLOS ONE, 19(5), e0290807. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290807
González, G., Castro, A., & González, F. (2008). Perfiles aptitudinales, estilos de pensamiento y rendimiento académico. Anuario de Investigaciones,15, 33-41.
Honma, M., Masaoka, Y., Iizuka, N., Wada, S., Kamimura, S., Yoshikawa, A., Moriya, R., Kamijo, S., & Izumizaki, M. (2022). Reading on a smartphone affects sigh generation, brain activity, and comprehension. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 1589. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05605-0
Hoover, W. A., & Tunmer, W. E. (2018). The simple view of reading: Three assessments of its adequacy. Remedial and Special Education, 39(5), 304-312. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932518773154
Jian, Y. C. (2021). The immediate and delayed effects of text–diagram reading instruction on reading comprehension and learning processes: Evidence from eye movements. Reading and Writing, 34(3), 727-752. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-020-10089-3
Kaufman, A. S., & Kaufman, N. L. (2000). K-BIT. Test Breve de Inteligencia de Kaufman (K-BIT) (2ª edición). Madrid: TEA Ediciones.
Lauterman, T., & Ackerman, R. (2014). Overcoming screen inferiority in learning and calibration. Computers in Human Behavior, 35, 455-463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.02.046
Lee, S. A., Hong, J. H., Kim, N. Y., Min, H. M., Yang, H. M., Lee, S. H., Choi, S. J., & Park, J. H. (2024). Unveiling neurocognitive disparities in encoding and retrieval between paper and digital tablet-based learning. Brain Sciences, 14(1), 76. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14010076
Li, Y., & Yan, L. (2024). Which reading comprehension is better? A meta-analysis of the effect of paper versus digital reading in recent 20 years. Telematics and Informatics Reports, 14, 100142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.teler.2024.100142
Mar, R. A., Li, J., Nguyen, A. T. P., & Ta, C. P. (2021). Memory and comprehension of narrative versus expository texts: A meta-analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin y Review, 28(3), 732-749. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-020-01853-1
Mol, S. E., & Bus, A. G. (2011). To read or not to read: A meta-analysis of print exposure from infancy to early adulthood. Psychological Bulletin, 137(2), 267-296. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021890
OECD (2021). 21st-Century Readers: Developing literacy skills in a digital world. PISA, OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/a83d84cb-en
OECD (2023), PISA 2022 Results (Volume I): The state of learning and equity in education, PISA, OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/53f23881-en
Piovano, S., Irrazabal, N., & Burin, D. I. (2018). Comprensión de textos expositivos académicos en e-book Reader y en papel: Influencia del conocimiento previo de dominio y la aptitud verbal. Ciencias Psicológicas, 12(2), 177-185. https://doi.org/10.22235/cp.v12i2.1680
Salmerón, L., Altamura, L., Delgado, P., Karagiorgi, A., & Vargas, C. (2024). Reading comprehension on handheld devices versus on paper: A narrative review and meta-analysis of the medium effect and its moderators. Journal of Educational Psychology, 116(2), 153-172. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000830
Sidi, Y., Shpigelman, M., Zalmanov, H., & Ackerman, R. (2017). Understanding metacognitive inferiority on screen by exposing cues for depth of processing. Learning and Instruction, 51, 61-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2017.01.002
Singer, L. M., & Alexander, P. A. (2017). Reading across mediums: Effects of reading digital and print texts on comprehension and calibration. The Journal of Experimental Education, 85(1), 155-172. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2016.1143794
Tabullo, A. J., Pithod, M., & Moreno, C. B. (2020). Associations between reading, comprehension, print exposure, executive functions, and academic achievement in Argentinean university students. Revista Neuropsicología, Neuropsiquiatría y Neurociencias, 20(2), 15-48. http://revistaneurociencias.com/index.php/RNNN/article/view/117
Tabullo, Á. J., & Pulifiato-Hamann, E. S. (2024). Lectura digital en estudiantes universitarios: contribuciones del funcionamiento ejecutivo y hábitos lectores. Ocnos, 23(2). https://doi.org/10.18239/ocnos_2024.23.2.424
Vernucci, S., Aydmune, Y., Andrés, M. L., Burin, D. I., & Canet-Juric, L. (2021). Working memory and fluid intelligence predict reading comprehension in school-age children: A one-year longitudinal study. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 35(4), 1115–1124. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3841