The Instructional Effect of Online Reading Strategies and Learning Styles on Student Academic Achievement

The purpose of this study was to examine the instructional effectiveness of different online reading strategies for students identified as possessing different learning styles, either internal or external locus of control styles, on tests measuring different learning objectives. Participants were 169 undergraduate students, randomly assigned to four online reading treatments: none, rereading strategy, keyword strategy, and question and answer strategy. Immediately after interacting with their respective instructions, students received four individual criterion measures. Analyses indicated an insignificant interaction between learning style and treatment type; however, comprehension tests reflect a significant main effect for students receiving the online rereading treatment (F = 3.09, df = 3/169, p = .03), with an effect size of .40. The rereading treatment also appears to be significantly more effective than the control for the comprehension test. Results indicate that not all types of reading strategies are equally effective in facilitating different types of learning objectives. The results indicate that, even though different reading strategies may be structurally different, they are functionally identical for raising questions relative to the cost and amount of time required for student interaction.