Is it the size, the movement, or both? Investigating effects of screen size and text movement on processing, understanding, and motivation when students read informational text

This study focused on the potential effects of screen size (smartphone vs. tablet) and text movement (scrolling vs. paging) on integrated understanding of text information, strategic backtracking, and intrinsic reading motivation when Norwegian university students read an informational text on either a smartphone or a tablet by either scrolling or paging. We expected that paging would lead to better integrated understanding of the text and more strategic backtracking than scrolling. Also, we explored whether scrolling would lower the intrinsic motivation for performing the reading task, and whether there were interactional effects of screen size with text movement on integrated understanding, strategic backtracking, and intrinsic motivation. Results indicated that students tended to obtain better integrated understanding when paging than when scrolling, and that those who paged through the text displayed more strategic backtracking than those who scrolled. Further, scrolling on a tablet led to a more positive reading experience than paging on a tablet or scrolling on a smartphone. In addressing two basic aspects of the reading context and the reading activity when students read digital text for understanding, this study provides new insights into the complex digital reading puzzle that may have both theoretical and practical implications.