Original Texts vs. Print-outs: Which Leads to Better Learning?

15 februari 2018 door Paul A. Kirschner 3 reacties

In the past, I’ve written about the differences in learning from printed materials versus on-screen (e.g., monitor, tablet) and that for a number of reasons printed materials were better. But, a question kept gnawing at me – and was also posed to me a few times too – namely if it made a difference if the printed materials were print-outs or actual materials (textbooks, magazines, etc.). Just today I came across an article in Contemporary Educational Psychology which throws a little light on the question.

Ladislao Salmerón, Laura Gil, and Ivar Bråten did a study which investigated the extent to which students’ sourcing )i.e., citing sources) and comprehension can be supported by the reading of real, as opposed to print-out versions of multiple documents. They write in the abstract:

It was found that the reading of real rather than print-out versions of multiple documents on the issue of climate change increased students’ memory for source information and made them include more specific references to document sources in argument essays that they wrote about the issue. In turn, such increased sourcing in essays mediated the positive effect of reading real versus print-out versions of documents on students’ construction of coherent representations of the documents’ content information. Theoretical and instructional implications of the findings are discussed, and directions for future research are provided.

The reasons why are comparable to the reasons why printed is better than on screen. They state:

Presumably, reading real versus print-out versions of the documents offered participants a number of multisensory cues that helped them perceive documents as entities, characterized by different document types or genres, written by particular authors, disseminated by different publishers, and so forth. Examples of such cues are visually salient source information on the cover of the documents, the size, weight, and texture of the documents, and the position of the arms while holding the documents. Such cues may demarcate document boundaries and facilitate the creation of source nodes that can be incorporated into readers’ documents model representations. In the current study, this was reflected in better memory for the sources of the documents and more specific references to document sources in essays for those who read real documents, compared to those who read print-out versions of the same documents.

This article is, unfortunately, behind the paywall but Ivar (the corresponding author) will hopefully send you a copy if you mail him. Also, if you’re in Academia.edu you might be able to get a copy here.

Salmerón, L., Gil, L., & Bråten, I. (2018). Effects of reading real versus print-out versions of multiple documents on students’ sourcing and integrated understanding. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 52, 25-35. doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2017.12.002

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Over Paul A. Kirschner

Nederlands: Paul A. Kirschner (1951) is Emeritus hoogleraar Onderwijspsychologie aan de Open Universiteit (Nederland), eredoctor (doctor honoris causa) aan Oulu University (Finland), Gastprofessor aan de Thomas More Hogeschool (België) en eigenaar van kirschner-ED. Hij was eerder Universiteitshoogleraar en hoogleraar Onderwijspsychologie aan de Open Universiteit, Visiting Professor Onderwijs met een leerstoel in Leren en Interactie in de Lerarenopleiding aan Oulu University, hoogleraar Onderwijswetenschappen aan de Universiteit Utrecht, hoogleraar Contact- en Afstandsonderwijs aan de Universiteit Maastricht en Visiting Professor aan de Open University of Catalonia (Spain). Hij is een internationaal erkende expert op zijn gebied met meer dan 350 wetenschappelijke publicaties. Hij heeft zitting gehad in de Onderwijsraad in de periode 2000-2004 en de Wetenschappelijk Technische Raad van SURF van 2009-2019. Hij is Fellow van de American Educational Research Association (NB de eerste Europeaan aan wie deze eer werd toegekend), de International Society of the Learning Sciences en de Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Science of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences (NIAS-KNAW). Hij was president van de International Society of the Learning Sciences in de periode 2010-2011. Hij is hoofdredacteur van de Journal of Computer Assisted Learning en commissioning editor van Computers in Human Behavior. Hij heeft veel boeken (mede)geschreven, o.a. Ten steps to complex learning (Routledge/Erlbaum), Op de Schouders van Reuzen en Wijze Lessen: Twaalf Bouwstenen voor Effectieve Didactiek (beiden gratis verkrijgbaar op het web), twee boeken over mythes in het onderwijs Jongens zijn Slimmer dan Meisjes XL en Juffen zijn Toffer dan Meesters (beiden ook in het Engels verschenen), Evidence Informed Learning Design, and How Learning Happens: Seminal Works in Educational Psychology and What They Mean in Practice. Hij schrift ook regelmatig voor Didactief (de kolom KirschnerKiest over wat docenten kunnen met wetenschappelijke resultaten). Hij wordt gezien als expert op veel gebieden en vooral het ontwerpen van effectief, efficiënt en bevredigend onderwijs, computerondersteund samenwerkend leren (CSCL), mediagebruik in het onderwijs en het verwerven van complex cognitieve vaardigheden. English: Paul A. Kirschner, dr.h.c. (1951) is Emeritus Professor Educational Psychology at the Open University of the Netherlands, Guest Professor at the Thomas More University of Applied Science in Mechelen, Belgium, Honorary Doctor (Doctor Honoris Causa) at the University of Oulu, Finland, and owner of kirschner-ED which carries out educational consultancy, masterclasses for teachers, school heads and educational policy makers, and keynotes/presentations at conferences and other educational get-togethers. He is a Research Fellow of the American Educational Research Association, the International Society of the Learning Sciences, and the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Science. He is a past President (2010-2011) of the International Society of the Learning Sciences and former member of the Dutch Educational Council and the Scientific Technical Council of the Foundation for University Computing Facilities (SURF WTR). He is chief editor of Journal of Computer Assisted Learning and commissioning editor of Computers in Human Behavior. He has also published more than 350 scientific articles as well as many popular articles for teacher journals. As for books, he is co-author of How Learning Happens: Seminal Works in Educational Psychology, Evidence Informed Learning Design, Urban Myths about Learning and Education and More Urban Myths about Learning and Education as well as of the highly successful book Ten Steps to Complex Learning, and editor of two other books (Visualizing Argumentation and What we know about CSCL). He is seen as an expert in many areas and in particular the design of effective, efficient and enjoyable education, computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL), media use in education, and the acquisition of complex cognitive skills.
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3 Reacties naar “Original Texts vs. Print-outs: Which Leads to Better Learning?”

  1. Onbekend's avatar
    Pedro Beantwoorden 23 februari 2018 bij 16:55

    Dit is op From experience to meaning… herblogd.

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  2. Onbekend's avatar
    Lalo Salmeron (@LSalmeron_UV) Beantwoorden 12 maart 2018 bij 11:14

    Thanks for the summary Paul. You can have a free pre-print copy of the paper at my university’s web site: https://www.uv.es/lasalgon/papers/Reading_Real_2017.pdf
    Lalo

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