Shelley Rodrigo

Note: Title was current at time of award and may have changed.

Improving Student Agency and Digital Reading for Better Learning and Academic Success

To better navigate the increasingly large amount of digitally published texts and to feel empowered as learners, students would benefit from understanding and using personalized reading formats (PRF) which enable changes to font, size, and spacing, for example. 

This project proposes studying how students experience adopting and implementing PRFs within digital textbook environments.  This goal addresses a high need on our campus and beyond.  Indeed, according to the UArizona Bookstore, nearly half of undergraduate courses adopt digital textbooks through the bookstore’s inclusive access process, as of Spring 2022.  By focusing exclusively on the reading environment within digital textbooks, this research advances our understanding of the process of learning technology adoption and adaptation, while immediately enhancing the student reading and learning experience in digital environments.

Presentations

APR 2023: Skimming, Chunking, Annotating: Using Reading Technology for Students and Instructors, Monthly IDEA Meeting, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, with Emily Jo Schwaller.

MAR 2023: Individualized Format Readability: The Messy Research Processes of Educational Technologies, CUES Inside UAZ-Funded Scholarship Series, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.

MAR 2023: Let’s Talk about Reading, Baby: How It Is and How It Could Be, 44th Annual Spring Conference on the Teaching of Writing, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA.

MAR 2023: "Teaching Reading": Let’s Get Over Feelin’ Mad and Sad and Bad, 44th Annual Spring Conference on the Teaching of Writing, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA.

MAR 2023: Improve STEM Education by Implementing Individualized Format Readability, 2023 Florida Engineering Education Conference (FEEC), University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, with Stephanie Day, Ben Sawyer, and Amy Giroux.

FEB 2023: Adapting Digital Reading Assignments for Efficiency & Efficacy, 2023 Conference on College Composition & Communication (CCCC), Chicago, IL, with Anuj Gupta, Anh Dang, Jack Clark, Anna Leach, Aimee Mapes, and Catherine Brooks.

Broader Engagement

JAN - MAR 2023: Faculty Learning Community: Facilitating Meaningful Engagement with Reading, Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Faculty Learning Communities Series, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (Virtual).