Acceptance for the following proposal was received from AECT March 25, 2003. The presentation will be conducted at the fall 2003 AECT national conference in Anaheim, California.
AECT Proposal
February 1, 2003
Greg Clinton
Robert Branch
Douglas Holschuh
Saun Shewanown
Title:
Studying Online Reading Performance as a Function of Text Layout
Short Description: The advent of onscreen typography has occasioned a need to rethink standard rules of type layout. Given two common practices of spacing at the end of a sentence among those who create online materials (single space after the period versus double space), an empirical evaluation of the effect of each on reading performance is warranted. This session presents a study of the online reading performance of college students during sample reading tasks taken from the Graduate Record Examination.
Abstract:
An interesting set of conversations that has been associated with writing and publishing surrounds questions of proper type layout. One of these questions is that of the correct way to end a sentence and begin another in published text. Students have been taught in typing classes that the spacebar must always be hit twice after a period, and today these individuals carry this tradition forward into their finished word processing documents and other publishing contexts. An opposing perspective is that two spaces after a period in a line of type is a needless use of space on the printed page, is aesthetically unappealing, and can distract the eye from efficient horizontal tracking across the page (Bringhurst, 1997). At times, writers, publishers of academic journals, and others have found themselves in a “trivial pursuit” debate in which they are either agreeing or disagreeing with someone’s opinion about issues such as this one, but in the absence of empirical evidence available to support one’s argument. The matter of “space after the period” seems so small relative to other weighty matters of publishing and writing that it may receive only casual attention, after which a given organization will likely continue on with existing practice. However, strong opinions seem to exist on both sides of the question.
Designers and publishers of print materials over the years have generally believed that elements such as spacing, font style, and paragraph justification affect reading. However, this view seems to have developed over time out of professional practice and conventional wisdom rather than out of empirical research, and therefore disparate opinions exist on the details of best practice. Even in our own field, traditional instruction to double-space after the period in academic papers is being called into question: The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association has changed from recommending double-spaces after period in the fourth edition (American Psychological Association, 1994) to single space after period in the fifth edition (American Psychological Association, 2001) essentially because word processors have begun to use single space as the default.
Because
computer-based learning has become prevalent and on-screen reading of text
is ever more important, many standardized achievement tests, such as the Graduate
Record Exam (GRE), are now being offered exclusively on-screen.
Publishers of computer-based materials must consider whether guidelines
for text layout onscreen should be different from guidelines that may be offered
for print, and whether the choices made will have any effect on performance.
To date, few studies have attempted to address this question with empirical data in order to help
form a basis for such guidelines. The
only known previous study on the space after the period question (Loh, Branch,
Shewanown, & Ali, 2002), achieved only equivocal results using a relatively
small number of study participants.
Building on the methodology established by two previous studies, one on serif versus sans-serif fonts used for onscreen reading (Grant & Branch, 2001) and the other on space after the period in onscreen reading tasks (Loh, Branch, Shewanown, & Ali, 2002), we are conducting a follow up study on the space after the period question using a substantially increased number of study participants.
Methodology and procedures are as follows: Graduate Record Exam test passages (used by permission) are initially formatted using Microsoft Word. Two versions of each passage are created, one with single spacing after the period, and one with double spacing after the period. A screen-capture is taken and processed in an appropriate graphics editor to create GIF images of each text sample, in order to achieve display consistency across PC and Mac platforms. Test materials are delivered via the Web, with computer monitors and browsers set to standardized settings (screen pixel dimensions, text color and background color).
Participants are randomly assigned to “single space after the period” and “double space after the period” groups automatically by means of scripting technology. Students who start the test on an odd second are assigned to one group and those who start on an even second are assigned to the other group (participants are in complete control of their own timing).
Participants are initially directed to the web address for the study and are presented with a consent form and a practice passage. They are then asked to complete four reading comprehension tasks, each consisting of a reading passage followed by a multiple-choice question. Each reading task begins and ends with the user clicking a button; thus the reading performance time is calculated as the amount of time between these two clicks, with scripting technology used to capture the time-stamp from each click. Multiple-choice question scores are not captured since this data is not the focus of the study. However, participants receive appropriate feedback for their responses to these questions. Data from participants are collected and stored in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Statistical processing is accomplished using SPSS.
Because adult learners who choose to continue their graduate education must achieve an adequate score on the now online-only GRE, easy-to-read screen passages become increasingly important. Any factors that might reduce eyestrain, cut down reading time, reduce cognitive load, or improve retention are highly desirable. This study is intended to contribute empirical research findings to the general knowledge base regarding the readability of on-screen passages in the hope of improving the readability of future online courses and standardized tests.