1. Proximity of Equations, Text, and Figures in Civil Engineering E-Textbooks Paul W. Richards Brigham Young University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

2. Electronic Textbooks Are Being Pushed

3. Are Electronic Textbooks As Effective as Printed? Daniel, D. B., and Woody, W. D. (2013). "E-textbooks at What Cost? Performance and Use of Electronic vs. Print Texts." Computers & Education, 62(0), 18-23. No significant difference in learning Electronic formats take longer to read

4. How Are Engineering Textbooks Different? Hibbeler, R.C. Engineering Mechanics: Statics Myers, D.G. Psychology. Seventh Ed.

5. Proximity

6. How Does Proximity Impact Learning? Mayer, R.E., et al., A Generative Theory of Textbook Design: Using Annotated Illustrations to Foster Meaningful Learning of Science Text. Educational Technology Research and Development, 1995. 43(1): p. 31-43.

7. What Happens to Proximity in Engineering E-Textbooks? Printed Spread Even Page Odd Page Now not proximate Odd Page

8. Textbooks Used for Study

9. Results for Printed Books Proximity of Referenced Objects (%) AuthorSame PageFacing PageSame Spread Segui501666 McCormac501767 Geschwindner331649 Salmon and Johnson462772 All451963 These results can be used to infer proximity in PDF versions viewed one page, rather than one spread, at a time. Flowable-text versions have much lower proximity with some approaching 0%.

10. Returning to the Ideal “… page after page of Leonardo’s manuscripts have a gentle but thorough integration of text and figure, a quality rarely seen in modern work.” Edward Tufte

11. Conclusions and Recommendations Proximity matters in scientific texts. Electronic textbooks have poor proximity (50% or worse). Current-generation e-textbooks in science and engineering should not be pushed.