More Than One Way - Fifth-Graders’ Varied Digital Reading Behaviors and Comprehension Outcomes

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Adam

Digital reading is ubiquitous, but understanding the processes that shape comprehension remains limited. This study examined the digital reading behaviors and comprehension of thirteen fifth graders reading static digital texts. Researchers coded the quantity and quality of digital reading behaviors, used action path diagrams to link behaviors to comprehension, and applied timescape analyses to show how behavior patterns differed across readers. Results indicated no single behavior directly predicted comprehension, while occasional rereading supported active reading and improved comprehension.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages25

Reading Time1 h 3 min

AccessFree to download

Background and Rationale

Digital reading vs. print comprehension

New literacies and active reading theories

Study Focus and Definitions

Static digital text task

Methodological Approach

Coding reading behaviors

Action path diagrams and timescape analyses

Key Findings

No single behavior predicts comprehension

Rereading and attention to distractions

AERA Open January-December 2024, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 1–25 DOI: 10. 1177/23328584241226633 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)© The Author(s) 2024. [https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero) More Than One Way: Fifth-Graders’Varied Digital Reading Behaviors and Comprehension Outcomes Amanda Yoshiko Shimizu Michael Havazelet Amanda P. Goodwin Vanderbilt University Digital reading is ubiquitous, yet understanding digital reading processes and links to comprehension remains underdeveloped. Guided by new literacies and active reading theories, this study explored the reading behaviors and comprehension of thirteen fifth graders who read static digital texts. We coded for the quantity and quality of digital reading behaviors and employed action path diagrams to connect behaviors to comprehension. We used timescape analyses to visualize how behaviors were orchestrated differently across readers. Findings showed no single behavior was related directly to comprehension, indicating varying pathways to digital reading success. Occasional rereading seemed to support active reading and improved comprehension. Instances of students subverting expected digital tools were observed. Minor distractions like mind-wandering did not link to poor performance. This research deepens our understanding of self-monitoring and active reading in static digital contexts, offering insights for future study of more complex digital reading contexts like reading on the internet. Keywords: descriptive analysis, literacy, middle schools, qualitative research, reading, technology Digital reading is ubiquitous in our society, yet our understanding of digital reading processes and comprehension remains underdeveloped (Coiro, 2021) . While “a vast body of research”(Alexander, 2020, p. S91) has been built regarding digital literacies, the scale of change, use, and complexity of digital reading makes it so that we lack the deep knowledge developed across a century of research with print texts. Although many studies suggest that paper reading is superior to screen reading in terms of comprehension (Clinton, 2019; Delgado et al., 2018; Furenes et al., 2021; Kong et al., 2018; Öztop & Nayci, 2021; Singer & Alexander, 2017), others have found that factors such as genre, text length, and interactive features in digital texts lead to contrary or mixed results (Clinton, 2019; Clinton-Lisell et al., 2023; Delgado et al., 2018; Schwabe et al., 2022) . Given the complexity of reading, we explore static digital reading to establish a baseline understanding of how digital reading processes occur when the medium is designed as similar as possible to traditional paper reading. As such, it provides potential insights into why the field is finding mixed comprehension results across mediums and acts as a foundation for future work into other unbounded forms of digital reading such as web-based reading. As early as 1998, Reinking (1988) emphasized that “electronic and printed texts are qualitatively different”(p. xxiv) and that “the new technologies of electronic reading and writing are slowly but steadily transforming classrooms, schools, and instruction” (p. xxv) . Since then, Leu et al.’s (2013) theory of new literacies suggests “a collaborative approach to theory building . . . because both old and new elements of literacy are layered in complex ways”(p. 1157) . Coiro (2021) has extended our understanding of the range of digital reading activities suggesting “a spectrum between the reading of single digital texts and reading in highly interactive environments”(p. 10) and the need to consider variables like reader, task, text, and context. Additionally, researchers have emphasized the need to move beyond analyzing reading products (i.e., reading comprehension outcomes) to understand reading processes. As Singer and Alexander (2017

FAQs

What type of digital texts did the study investigate?

The study focused on static digital texts presented digitally without an internet connection and without interactive elements such as hyperlinks or videos.

How did the researchers connect reading behaviors to comprehension?

They coded both the quantity and quality of digital reading behaviors, then used action path diagrams to connect those behaviors to comprehension outcomes.

What did the findings suggest about the role of specific behaviors?

No single digital reading behavior was directly related to comprehension, indicating that readers may reach success through different behavioral pathways.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Adam