Our
thanks to Dr. John Richard Schrock for his permission to reprint this
enlightening article about college students' preferences for printed
textbooks.
A professor of biology and director of biology
education at Emporia State University, Dr. Schrock is an acclaimed author,
columnist, editor and speaker.
American university
students this year are still using printed textbooks far more than
eTexts.
In 2010, it was predicted that eTexts would rise
from 2 percent of college course materials to over 18 percent after 2014. It
didn't happen.
In
the "Student Reading Practices in Print and Electronic Media" study to be
published in the journal College & Research Libraries in September
2014, researchers tracked the reading habits of juniors, seniors and graduate
students at the College of New York.
Although students
used electronic media for non-academic reading, they relied on paper for
academics.
There are
"a lot of misconceptions about Millennials" as a digital generation, according
to researcher Nancy Foasberg who led the study.
The
Chronicle of Higher Education reported on Foasberg's research: "Several
students in Ms. Foasberg's study expressed a distaste for digital
textbooks.
"Some who had used e-books said they would not
use them again because they found the embedded links distracting and because
they could not interact with the content as they could with print
texts—highlighting or taking notes in the margins, for
instance.
"And since the students had to print out digital
texts, whatever money they had saved by not buying printed copies was largely
lost to printing costs."
Another
writer, Ferris Jabr, details the extensive research over the last two years
that confirms the science behind students' intuitive preference for printed
text. In the November 2013 issue of Scientific American, Jabr lays out
the shortcomings of reading from screens in "Why the Brain Prefers
Print."
Summarizing recent research from Tufts University,
Indiana University, University of Stavanger (Norway), Karlstad University
(Sweden), Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, University of Leicester,
University of Central Florida and San Jose State University, the downsides of
reading on-screen are piling up.
Research
indicates that the brain treats words as physical objects which have a
placement on a page but are fleeting on screen. Measures of brain activity are
high when a student writes letters by hand, but not when
typed.
Many of us experience "drifting away" while
scrolling. Research shows that scrolling promotes shallow reading and reduces
comprehension.
Text provides us with both "deep reading"
and context.
Reading
printed text is less taxing cognitively and provides us with more free capacity
for comprehension.
Reading on the Kindle "ink" format that
imitates paper is less taxing than reading the backlit screens of other
readers, cell phones, tablets and computer screens. Indeed, most readers report
higher levels of stress, eye strain, and scrolling that "drains more mental
resources."
Researchers found that screens promote
browsing, taking shortcuts, and scanning. Readers of print are much more likely
to re-read and check for understanding.
For college students, the bottom line is: "Will the format affect my test scores?" Researchers found that "...volunteers using paper scored about 10 percentage points higher...students using paper approached the exam with a more studious attitude than their screen-reading peers...." Under both modes, students could superficially "remember" but those studying printed text "knew with certainty," a trait likely related to the deep-reading of print.
Will the next "digital generation" avoid this difference and be better adapted to screens? Even with young children, researchers found the screens got in the way. Children were distracted into fiddling with the knobs on the device and otherwise being distracted by the technology.
Despite a
decade of hype, American college students appear to agree with the survey of
students at the National Autonomous University of Mexico where 80 percent of
students preferred print to screen in order to "understand with
clarity."
You will probably agree as well. After all, you
are reading this complex summary—in print.
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will be closed Friday, July 4 for Independence Day.
Enjoy
a pleasant summer holiday with your family and friends.
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