Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-29-2020

Publication Title

College Teaching

Volume

68

Abstract

E-textbooks have become more popular with college students, but there are concerns that reading is not as effective from screens as paper. In addition, students may not take advantage of tools afforded by e-textbooks. The purpose of this study was to determine if encouraging students to read from paper or modeling e-textbook tools would be better for students in terms of reading and using their textbooks. Two instructors randomly assigned students (N = 144) to view a video and answer an essay question about either the benefits of reading from paper, how to use etextbook tools, or general information about open educational resources (control). Findings indicated that students told about the benefits of reading from paper were not more likely to read the textbook from paper. Students also generally used both paper and e-textbooks in a similar manner, except students in the e-textbook tools condition reported more notetaking while reading than students in the paper condition. Finally, student medium preference for studying did not change based on condition. Findings from this study provide guidance for how instructors should advise students on reading their course textbooks.

Issue

4

First Page

221

Last Page

227

DOI

10.1080/87567555.2020.1786665

ISSN

1930-8299

Rights

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in College Teaching on June 29, 2020, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/87567555.2020.1786665

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