Learning through reading and writing tasks in higher education: what do students use, paper or screen? (El aprendizaje a través de la lectura y la escritura en la educación universitaria: ¿qué usan los estudiantes, papel o pantalla?)

Abstract The objective of this study was to identify and characterize the reading and writing tasks that university students perform to learn, taking into account the discipline (sciences vs humanities) and the support used (printed vs digital). Four hundred and four students completed an online questionnaire that included 13 tasks which involved reading-writing to learn the contents of the subject. The tasks varied according to their level of complexity, the number and type of sources needed, the level of composition required and the degree to which the information from the sources was processed. Students indicated performing, with higher frequency, tasks that promoted more superficial learning. Humanities students mentioned carrying out tasks that promoted deeper processing. Regarding the format of the materials used, science students reported using the digital format more frequently. However, printed support seemed to be more commonly used when students performed tasks to learn in a relatively superficial way the contents of the subjects. By contrast, students used the digital format to perform complex reading and writing tasks.