Easy to Read Equals Easy to Learn. Text-Design and the Intake and Memorization of Information in a Classroom Setting

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2019 in the subject Pedagogy - Class Preparation General, grade: keine, , language: English, abstract: This study examines wether a well designed text aids pupils or students to read and understand the text and increase or ease the information intake. It is aimed to offer a guideline on how a text should be designed to enhance the learning effect and to offer the easiest and most efficient design for a student to work with.

The study was conducted in several classrooms of a vocational school in Austria. Given the age bracket which is centered roughly around 17 and 18 year old students, the results could have a relevance for adult students as well.

The study showed that a well designed text led to 18.8 % increase in reading speed, a 13.5% increase in remembered information as well as an 32.1 % increase in testing time. The biggest difference however was the time needed to retrieve information from the text with a 36.9 % In general, wh working with the text, the reader friendly designed texts proved to be easier to read, faster to use and helped in remembering the information.