RESEARCH PAPERS

How Does Digital Reading Affect College Students’ Reading Literacy? An Invariance Analysis Between Digital and Print Reading Groups

  • Wang Shichao ,
  • Li Renjie ,
  • Guo Jianpeng ,
  • Chen Yulei
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  • Institute of Education, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005
Wang Shichao, Doctoral Candidate; Li Renjie, Doctoral Candidate; Guo Jianpeng, Professor, PhD, Doctoral Supervisor, Corresponding Author, E-mail: guojianpeng@gmail.com; Chen Yulei, Master’s Candidate.

Received date: 2024-10-21

  Revised date: 2025-02-16

  Online published: 2025-09-12

Supported by

This work is supported by the general project of National Social Science Fund of China, titled “Research on Teaching Innovation for Cultivating College Students’ Core Socialist Values through Ideological and Political Education in Courses” (Grant No. 23VSZ132).

Abstract

[Purpose/Significance] This study aims to reveal the influence mechanism of digital reading on college students' reading literacy through a large-scale survey, offering empirical support for enhancing the quality and efficiency of digital reading education in higher education institutions. [Method/Process] Drawing on survey data from 63,170 students across 461 undergraduate institutions nationwide, this study employed multi-group confirmatory factor analysis and multi-group structural equation modeling to systematically explore differences in latent means and internal mechanisms between digital and print reading groups across dimensions, including reading motivation, deep reading, and reading ability. [Result/Conclusion] The study reveals that digital reading has both hindering and promoting effects on college students’ reading literacy. On one hand, students engaged in digital reading exhibit relative deficiencies in autonomous reading motivation, deep reading, and reading ability, and weaken the synergistic enhancement effect among these factors. On the other hand, digital reading strengthens the positive predictive effect of controlled reading motivation on reading ability. In light of these findings, the impact of digital reading should be viewed dialectically, recognizing both its advantages and limitations. Promoting its high-quality development requires collaboration among governments, enterprises, and universities, along with active participation from students to address the challenges it poses to their reading literacy.

Cite this article

Wang Shichao , Li Renjie , Guo Jianpeng , Chen Yulei . How Does Digital Reading Affect College Students’ Reading Literacy? An Invariance Analysis Between Digital and Print Reading Groups[J]. Library and Information Service, 2025 , 69(19) : 26 -36 . DOI: 10.13266/j.issn.0252-3116.2025.19.003

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