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Hard-to-Read Fonts Improve Learning
arkenian writes "Difficult-to-read fonts make for better learning, according to scientists. The finding is about to be published in the international journal Cognition. Researchers at Princeton University employed volunteers to learn made-up information about different types of aliens — and found that those reading harder fonts recalled more when tested 15 minutes later. The article goes on to note a second test in a real school environment: 'Keen to see if their findings actually worked in practice, the Princeton University team then tested their results on 222 students aged between 15 and 18 at a secondary school in Chesterfield, Ohio.'... 'Students given the harder-to-read materials scored higher in their classroom assessments than those in the control group. This was the case across a range of subjects — from English, to Physics to History.'"
Instead of skimming, you are forced to actually read every word.
Skimming is for getting an idea of what to expect to learn. Reading is for the actual learning.
Theres also a difference of the persons willingness to learn. A person will only try to learn deeper material, ex. Knuth, if they want to, in which case they will. If the person is however forced to learn the US Consitution amendments by memory, theres a small chance that they will. Unless theyre a lawyer of course, in which case its a totally acceptable thing to do. Of Course.
Because it seems counter-intuitive, I really liked the following sentence:
...Keen to see if their findings actually worked in practice..."
Often times we see studies done in labs and, because it doesn't look reasonable to us, we quickly dismiss it by saying "Well, it would never work in real life." Here, at least, they tried it in real life. It's not a long-term study, so there are still shortcomings, but it's better than the usual Social Studies experiments.
Whenever in an argument, remember this.
Wait until your 50. The only thing small fonts do is make your head burn out in 2 hours, and oh yeah that DTV Channel Master, I can't read a damn thing unless I am two feet away from the set. But your test was 18 yr old kids, they'll have perfect vision and be awake three days at a time. The whole premise here is BS , next you'll be telling us Graffiti Fonts are the best for working with the asm disassembler..
Pay no attention to 'WindWraith'. You're doing it right.
*shakes fist at 'WindWraith' for discouraging good behavior/mindset*
I envy youth and their good eyesight. Hell, I miss my own good eyesight when I was younger!
As an 'older than dirt, had to fight dinosaurs on my ten mile trek[one way] UPHILL, in a blizzard/sandstorm- both ways! to school everyday' crowd, I appreciate your efforts and way of thinking about web page design.
As an avid reader, I appreciate good text fonts both in real paper books, and various forms of e-books.
Tri-focal lenses, macular degeneration, and just plain old age changes your perspective and outlook!
I frequently read some comments here regarding screen resolution[and similar], and am struck with both amusement and envy. I seem to ask myself EVERY time two questions anymore:
How do they even see/distinguish crap that small?
Why are they going through that hassle?
Damn, I'm REALLY getting old!
BTW, if you are reading this reply, 'WindWraith', please take the comment as 'tongue-in-cheek' humour/sarcasm.
You do provide a valid and insightful comment about memories, IMHO.
Oh yeah, obligatory...
Hey you young punks, get off my lawn!
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
Thinking that Arial is a good print font whereas Comic Sans and Bodoni aren't, is one point of view. Maybe Comic Sans and Bodoni are better suited for printing, so they do boost learning by more fluid reading of the text?
(-1, Redundant). Not (-1, Troll) or (-1, Flamebait) or even (-1, Offtopic), it is Redundant, as in it was so obvious that it didn't need to be said.
Wow, slashdot moderation sure is something!
I scared that you think "The da Vinci Code" is a textbook, or even something which might be used in English Literature classes. Very scared.
Possibly unlike you I like to type it out each time to remind myself that I'm communicating with real human beings with opinions and egos and values of their own. Putting it in a sig would be like the plastic smiles and pre-recorded ersatz "have a nice day" of some establishments.
If you don't understand the virtue of remembering to treat humans as humans each time, then I suggest that you take your insult back and shove it somewhere.
Damon
http://m.earth.org.uk/
Not really, doctors are being allowed to write in their own script less and less because of all the medical errors associated with poor penmanship. At my doctor's office, all the communication is typed, so the likelihood of mistakes due to poor penmanship is eliminated.
The long term effect is to ruin students ability to learn as you have to actually read it correctly first. Sure they retain the information, but they don't retain what's on the paper, they retain what they think the paper says. Which isn't always the same thing. All this is going to do is cause folks with what was a relatively minor learning disorder to have a really tough time.
This totally explains why academics love the shit text that comes out of LaTeX (not the layout; it's fine -- I'm talking about that awful default font).