The influence of QuikScan summaries on comprehension and recall of children in grades 5 and 6

Background: Almost 1.5 million Dutch residents have insufficient reading skills, which cause can be found in primary education. A new signalling device, called QuikScan, aims to improve the accessibility, comprehensibility and subsequent recall of texts. Aim: Empirical studies conducted among older students have shown that QuikScan improves comprehension and recall. This study aimed to find evidence that QuikScan can also be beneficial for children in grades 5 and 6 of primary education. The position of the summaries was also taken into account. Method: Participants were 125 students (mean age 11.4 years) from primary school. They read a text which contained either no summaries, preview summaries or review summaries. They then completed a test that assessed their comprehension and recall of the text. The students were not allowed to search the text for answers. The study was conducted twice, the participants were assigned to two different conditions. Results: Adding QuikScan summaries did not influence the test results. There was no significant difference between the three conditions. The reading skills level was significantly related to the test results. Topical interest was not related to the test results. Conclusions: Adding QuikScan summaries does not provide advantages for this target group. Reading tactics and the reading skills level were important influencing factors.