Nowadays, it is essential for students to have sufficient computer literacy in order to consume information in this information age.
Purpose
The research study focuses on investigating ‘‘Effects of Text-to-Speech on Reading Habit of Medical Science Students in Kwara state university, Malete”.
Research Design
The study adopts quasi-experimental research design, which is considered appropriate that allows the treatment of a particular group of phenomena.
Study Sample
The sample size for the study includes 80 students selected from 200 & 300 level students of the Department of Medicine and Surgery, Kwara State University, Malete.
Data Collection and/or Analysis
Questionnaire was adopted as data collection instrument. Using descriptive statistics of mean, the respondents’ pre- and post-testscores was compared. Simple percentages and frequency counts was use to analyze the respondents’ demographics.
Results
The findings of the study highlighted that the types of TTS used by medical science students at Kwara State University Malete include: Murf AI, Snap Read Universal, Listen AI-TTS Natural-Reader TTS, and Microsoft Word Co-Pilot. The study indicated that medicine and surgery students used Murf AI, Microsoft Word Co-Pilot, Listen AI-TTS, Google Read & Write, and Blinkist extensively. The study found that text-to-speech technologies positively had an effect on students reading retention by helping them remember more details from study materials, enhance their ability to recall previously studied content, improve their understanding of academic materials, and make it easier to process and remember information presented via text-to-speech tools. The study revealed that text-to-speech technologies have a significant effect on students’ frequency of reading by meeting students’ academic reading requirements, increasing students’ daily reading duration, and making students’ reading sessions more consistent. The study also found that over-reliance on text-to-speech technologies reduced students’ traditional reading skills, technical issues like software crashes hinder the use of text-to-speech technologies, lack of customization in text-to-speech tools affect their usability for academic purposes, and difficulties with pronunciation accuracy are challenges faced on the use of text-to-speech technologies on reading habit.
Conclusion
The study concludes that text to speech technologies significantly improve reading retention, comprehension, and the ability to recall previously studied materials.
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