The impact of reading medium on text comprehension among vocational students
Upper secondary Paper vs screen Reading and writing Analog vs digital
Links to claims
Supports (1)
| Claim | Basis |
|---|---|
| C3 | VET within-subjects: whole-sample screen inferiority (OR=1.44); kill-condition test survived 2026-09-29. |
Limits (1)
| Claim | Basis |
|---|---|
| C3 | Medium effect significant in lower-comprehension subgroup; trend only in higher (p=.073). |
Review state: first-pass draft, pending human review.
Source note (Swedish, verbatim from the Kunskapsbank)
Syntes: Foss, Støle & Magyari (2026) — VET paper vs screen
Källa: Foss, V. H., Støle, H., & Magyari, L. (2026). The impact of reading medium on text comprehension among vocational students. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 70(3), 721–735. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2025.2506387
Metadata
- ID:
MEDIA-013 - Tier: RCT (within-subjects)
- N / design: n=106 Norwegian upper-secondary VET students (M=16.5); two informational texts on own laptop vs printed A4 booklets; one page at a time digitally (no continuous scroll of whole text)
- Population: gymnasium / VET
- Subject: medium effect on informational-text comprehension; moderated by comprehension level and decoding (WCT)
Finding
- Whole sample: significant screen inferiority (χ²(1)=14.165, p<.0001, OR=1.44 for print); print mean 4.15 (SD 1.84) vs digital 3.42 (SD 1.98); ~0.64 points higher in print.
- Lower-comprehension subgroup (n=58): significant medium effect (χ²(1)=12.867, p=.0003, OR=1.646). Higher-comprehension subgroup (n=48): trend only (p=.073).
- Decoding (WCT) predicted overall comprehension but did not interact with medium in the main model.
Mechanism
Screen inferiority for informational learning texts among mixed-ability VET adolescents; concentrated in lower performers (monitoring / attention / shallow digital mindset).
Limits
Single VET school cluster; median split into high/low; no separate calibration measure; digital presentation was page-by-page images (not free scroll of one long page).
This claim dies if …
A meta/RCT beyond early primary finds screen ≥ paper for deep comprehension of continuous informational text under equal time and the calibration gap disappears.
Swedish implication
Start paper for informational deep reading in gymnasium/VET, especially for weaker comprehenders; teach screen strategies when digital is required.
Links
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2025.2506387
- Related: delgado-etal-2018-paper-vs-screen, mangen-etal-2013-paper-vs-screen, florit-etal-2025-first-grade-paper-screen, salmeron-etal-2024-handheld-meta
Metadata as recorded
- ID
- MEDIA-013
- Tier
- RCT
- Closed-book follow-up
- n/a (same-session comprehension after reading)
- Titel
- The impact of reading medium on text comprehension among vocational students
- Författare
- Foss, V. H.; Støle, H.; Magyari, L.
- År
- 2026 (online 2025; Scand. J. Educ. Res. 70(3), 721–735)
- Källa/DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2025.2506387
- URL
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00313831.2025.2506387
- Typ
- within-subjects RCT (n=106 VET students, M age 16.5; informational texts on own laptop vs printed A4)
- Åldersgrupp
- gymnasium / VET (Norway)
- Teman
- papper-vs-skarm; lasning-och-skrivande; analogt-vs-digitalt
- Sparade fil
- Foss-Støle-Magyari-2026-VET-paper-screen.pdf
- Hämtad
- 2026-09-29
- Paywall
- publisher page; PDF fetched for private bank
Original files held in the project (not published): Foss-Støle-Magyari-2026-VET-paper-screen.pdf