Two-Part Reflection On Reading Part 1: Personal Reading Expe
Two-Part Reflection on Reading
Part 1: Personal Reading Expe
Two-Part Reflection on Reading
Part 1: Personal Reading Experience (225–300 words)
Describe your experience with learning to read, including when you first learned to read and how reading has been for you as you’ve grown. Provide examples of how you prepare to read, whether you dive in or take steps first, and whether it depends on what or why you are reading. Reflect on your college-level reading so far: do you embrace it or avoid it, skim or skip sections, or sometimes skip reading altogether?
Part 2: Reading on Screens (300–450 words)
Read two articles: The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper versus Screens and Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. Address:
- Your reaction to the articles: what you agree with and why.
- What you disagree with and why.
- How your experiences compare to the information in the articles.
- The impact you think this will have on your reading in college and why academic assignments typically have formatting requirements.
Formatting note: It is suggested that your work be double-spaced and written in Times New Roman, 12-point font.
Paper For Above Instructions
In comparing my experiences to the articles, I notice consistency in the trade-offs: screens support rapid access and skimming of multiple sources, while paper supports sustained focus and deep processing. My own learning habits align with the idea that digital reading often prioritizes breadth over depth, and I frequently rely on digital copies for quick citation checks and bibliographic management, while reserving long-form, paper-based readings for chapters or articles requiring thorough analysis. The articles collectively suggest that medium matters for cognitive load and engagement; I experience this in coursework where assignments demand close reading, precise argumentation, and careful formatting. The studies by Mangen, Walgermo, and Brønnick indicate that comprehension can differ depending on the medium, with paper sometimes yielding better recall for linear texts (Mangen, Walgermo, & Brønnick, 2013). The Google effects research highlights how external memory systems can influence our own encoding strategies (Sparrow, Liu, & Wegner, 2011). The broader literature on distraction and cognitive control—such as the work of Rosen and Gazzaley—suggests that frequent media multitasking can impair sustained attention, a critical skill for college-level reading and writing (Rosen & Gazzaley, 2016; Ophir, Nass, & Wagner, 2009). From a college perspective, I recognize why academic assignments often require specific formatting—double-spaced text, legible fonts, and consistent citations—because consistent formatting reduces cognitive load and helps readers focus on argument structure and evidence. The formal requirements set by instructors can paradoxically encourage careful planning and revision, supporting deeper engagement with material even as digital formats tempt quick, surface-level processing. My stance is that formatting is a scaffold for thinking: it organizes ideas clearly, facilitates critical evaluation, and helps ensure that complex analyses are accessible to readers. (Wolf, 2018; Carr, 2008; Mangen, Walgermo, & Brønnick, 2013; Sparrow, Liu, & Wegner, 2011; Rosen & Gazzaley, 2016; Ophir, Nass, & Wagner, 2009; Nielsen, 2006)