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Published in
Academic Frontiers
Effects of Scrolling and Paging on the Digital Reading Comprehension of Senior High School Students in Dolores National High School
Academic Frontiers, 2(5), 103-110, ISSN: 3082-4400, 2026.
Recommended Citation:
Pomarca, I. O., & Capacite, A. C. (2026). Effects of Scrolling and Paging on the Digital Reading Comprehension of Senior High School Students in Dolores National High School. Academic Frontiers, 2(5), 103–110. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20219358
Author(s)
Pomarca et al.
Abstract
This study investigates the "modality effect" in digital education by comparing the impact of scrolling and paging on the reading comprehension of 50 Senior High School students at Dolores National High School. Utilizing a quasi-experimental, within-subjects design with counterbalancing, the research examined how the continuous motion of scrolling contributes to the "screen inferiority effect" by disrupting the spatial anchoring and mental mapping necessary to organize information in long-term memory. Statistical analysis through paired t-tests revealed that the paging modality produced significantly higher comprehension scores (p < .001) across all categories, with "Advanced" literal comprehension levels rising from 8% to 28% and average inferential scores shifting from "Average" to "Proficient". These findings suggest that the "cognitive friction" inherent in scrolling fragments a reader's global sense of the text and exacerbates a "calibration problem," in which even "digital natives" overestimate their understanding and settle for superficial scanning patterns. Consequently, the study recommends that digital learning modules prioritize paginated layouts, content chunking, and explicit navigational aids to reduce extraneous cognitive load and provide the stable mental architecture required for deep inferential reasoning. These findings highlight the critical intersection of digital reading comprehension, cognitive load theory, and spatial anchoring in modern educational design.
Keywords
Digital Reading Comprehension, Scrolling vs. Paging, Senior High School Students, Cognitive Friction, Spatial Anchoring, Mental Mapping, Screen Inferiority Effect, Digital Learning Module Design, Inferential Reasoning, Cognitive Load Theory
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