Action research on rate of screen reading comprehension : depicting the increased rate of computer screen reading comprehension of Georgia & Verdana Latin typefaces vs those of Arial & Times New Roman in the history of interior design course at NDU

Abstract

This thesis observes the readability and the legibility of the selected fonts and sizes in the information web pages by the performance of web designers and how this issue may affect the rate of comprehension while reading on screen. It considers how four different fonts may influence the rate of comprehension, the typefaces Georgia, Verdana with their sizes 8, 10, and 12 pt, which are made to be read on screen in information web pages in comparison to those of Arial and Times new Roman that are displayed on the web pages on computer screens by the web designers. A problematic question was raised in this study: Can the two typefaces, GEORGIA and VERDANA better increase the rate of reading comprehension on the computer screen than the two typefaces, ARIAL and TIMES NEW ROMAN? The point was to conclude whether the first two typefaces optimized for on screen performance and if they can significantly recover the rate of comprehension. Comparisons were made among the typefaces using categorical font selection and Type size. This thesis was designed to select the level of dependent variable rate of comprehension. The examination study investigates the font selection and type size which affect the rate of comprehension through the adopted theory of Nelson Denny’s reading test, this test is modified several times in the last 40 years, it measures the rate of comprehension while reading texts on the computer screen, and it is generally timed, 15 minutes to measure the vocabulary reading and 20 minutes to measure the comprehension, as well as it is modified for the length of the reading. The Methodology to be followed is an Action Research Study. For this study, there will be a quantitative and a qualitative analysis. I will be measuring the rate of comprehension of students reading texts of 250 words on the screen with the four mentioned typefaces in their 3 sizes 8, 10 and 12. Twenty nine students/ participants at NDU in the faculty of Architecture Art and Design in the Interior Design Department during the fall semester in the year 2011-2012, will read 12 passages in PDF files on their computer screen with the different typefaces and their relative sizes from the content of their course (A History of interior design by John Pile, second edition, 2005). The test‘s procedures (time and kind) are to follow Nelson Denny’s Screen Reading test. This test will be given to students for 3 weeks circulated as the following; week 1, week 4, week 7 within three cycles. In the week 1 and before starting the test, students have to answer a questionnaire composed of 15 closed questions and this is related to a qualitative analysis. The quantitative analysis will be in the last 7 weeks of the fall semester 2011-2012 and it will be conducted through the GLM4- Repeated Measures analysis.