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Saturday May 16, 2020
AUTHOR:
John "Chase" Downey
FACULTY: Dr. Kara Sage; funding for travel provided by the student research grant from the student research grant committee at the College of Idaho
DEPARTMENT: Psychology
Students' comprehension of reading material is influenced by how information is conveyed. One interesting comparison is digital devices, such as laptop computers and smartphones. Both devices share features that give them the potential to be used for academic purposes (internet browsing capabilities, shared applications, etc.). Understanding how comprehension may be affected by these devices may help inform our use of them. Additionally, digital tools such as hypertext can be utilized to convey information by providing additional context for the reading. In the present study, 31 participants were tested on their comprehension of a short textbook reading after reading on a smartphone or laptop. This reading contained multiple hyperlinks with the purpose to improve comprehension. Our results found that there was no significant difference in comprehension or cognitive load across devices. Results of this study imply that comprehension is similar across digital devices, at least for these types of readings (introductory biology textbook chapter readings). Though the devices vary in their affordances, perhaps they have equal trade-offs in cognitive load and thus similarly influence comprehension. Further research is needed to understand the full effects of technology and hyperlinked media on reading comprehension.
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