Research by an Indiana State University doctoral student surveyed more than 200 students. Half of the students used a tablet to read a textbook chapter while the other half of the students read from a printed textbook chapter.
The students then took an open-book quiz with eight easy and eight moderate questions on the chapter.
"Few people have done a lot of research into what I'm doing. Mine directly ties performance with perception by undergraduates," said Jim Johnson, who is also director of instructional and information technology services in the Bayh College of Education.
"No matter what the format, no matter what the preference, they did well. It was interesting that the gender didn't matter on the test scores," he said.
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Men had a mean score of 12.87 out of 16 while women had an average score of 13.60 out of 16. Students age 21 had an average score of 13.87 out of 16 while students 25 and older had an average score of 13.5 out of 16.
"The delivery method didn't make any difference," he said.
Of the participants, 88 per cent said they had read books on laptops, netbooks or desktops while 51 per cent said they had used a tablet, smartphone or other devices to read books.
Additionally 36.1 per cent said they used a cell phone to look at digital texts.
However, some problems remain in the digital textbook market. Students expressed concern about eye strain from reading text on electronic devices.
Students also expressed concern about the high price of digital textbooks as well as the battery life, software and reliable technology.