Even the smartest college students suffer academically when surfing the Web in class

First of all, this post (and study) is not about banning smartphones, computers or tablets from school or even from class, still… even the smartest college students suffer academically when they use the Internet in class for non-academic purposes. This is the conclusion 2 Michigan State University scholars draw from their new research.

Basically:

  • Non-academic internet use negatively predicted exam scores.
  • ACT scores did not mediate the relationship between internet use and exam scores.
  • Students discounted the effect of using portable devices on learning over time.
  • Those with higher intellectual ability reported using the internet more over time.

 

From the press release:

The study, funded by the National Science Foundation, speaks to typical lecture-hall culture in which professors compete for students’ attention with laptops and smartphones.

“Students of all intellectual abilities should be responsible for not letting themselves be distracted by use of the Internet,” said Susan Ravizza, associate professor of psychology and lead investigator on the study.

Ravizza and colleagues studied non-academic Internet use in an introductory psychology class at MSU with 500 students. The working theory: Heavy Internet users with lower intellectual abilities – determined by ACT scores – would perform worse on exams. Past research suggests smarter people are better at multitasking and filtering out distractions.

But surprisingly, that wasn’t the case. All students, regardless of intellectual ability, had lower exam scores the more they used the Internet for non-academic purposes such as reading the news, sending emails and posting Facebook updates.

Ravizza said that might be because Internet use is a different type of multitasking, in that it can be so engaging.

The study also showed students discounted the effects of Internet use on academic performance, reinforcing past findings that students have poor awareness of how their smartphones and laptops affect learning.

Ravizza said it would be nearly impossible to attempt to ban smartphones or other electronic devices from lecture halls. “What would you do, have hundreds of people put their cell phones in a pile and pick them up after class?” Such a ban might also be a safety issue, since cell phones have become a primary source of receiving emergency messages.

The study appears in the online version of the journal Computers & Education. Researchers Zach Hambrick and Kimberly Fenn, both from MSU’s Department of Psychology, were co-authors.

Abstract of the research:

The use of laptops and cell phones in the classroom is increasing but there is little research assessing whether these devices create distraction that diminishes learning. Moreover, the contribution of intellectual ability to the relationship between learning and portable device use has not been thoroughly investigated. To bridge this gap, students in an introductory psychology class were surveyed about the frequency and duration of their use of various portable devices in the classroom. Internet use negatively predicted exam scores and added to the prediction of classroom learning, above a measure of intellectual ability. Furthermore, students discounted the effect of using portable devices on learning over time. Concomitantly, those with higher intellectual ability reported using the internet more in class over time. Thus, higher rates of internet use were associated with lower test grades and students’ beliefs about this relationship did not reflect their ability to multi-task effectively.

5 thoughts on “Even the smartest college students suffer academically when surfing the Web in class”

  1. This puts me in mind of a study from…2008, In class Laptop use and it;s effects on student learning – http://www.mcla.edu/Academics/uploads/textWidget/3424.00018/documents/laptop_use_in_the_classroom.pdf

    It’s interesting that the impact is felt across the student scale…

    Fried’s study reports a strong correlation between laptop use in class and lower test scores, though the paper didin;t test for intelligence beforehand.

    Fried argues, if I rmember correctly, that it;s probably based on the levels of distraction poised by laptops.

    The paper poses a Cognitive Load explanation for mechanism, and also points out that laptop users spect an average of 15% of lecture time off task on their laptops. They also self reported lowered levels of in lecture understanding, and remembering less of lectures.

    In addition, it;s possible that the nature of multitasking, or as Cognitive Load Theorists might argue, task switching, is going to add to cognitive load across the board, and that student intelligence is not going to be a major mitigator.

    As multitaking, per se, is considered in CLT to not be simultaneous, and to involve switching, rapidly, between different tasks and the switching has a cognitive load cost, we might expect the effect, and load cost to be similar across differnet students, so lomng as the material being covered was reasonably new to them.

    Based on Fried’s data, we might theorise that the cognitive loads involved in task switching, as well as the specific distraction type are gping to have the same impact on each student. Or comparabvle at l;east. And based on the Fried again, it would be interesting to know if the study measured the amount of time off task and correlated that with student performance, understanding, and/or test scores. Missing 15% of a lecture, for example, is likely to impact negatively on any student.

    If cognitive load, distraction, and actively being off task are the reasons for lowered test scores, perhaps it;s not so suprising that the effect is across the board?

    Fried noted that there is literatiure indicating that structuired device use – where students are supported, educated and directed – might have different outcomes, though the literature detailing these might not be particularly rigorous.

    So, is the answer to this to accept it, to actively structure how students use their in class devices, to educate them about the problems with devioce usage (as well as the potentiavantages), to implement a device on device off policy ( the instructor assignms specific times for devices to be switched off ), to monitor device usage in smaller classes?

    Thanks for posting. This is one of my absolute must read blogs. My pocket archive is stuffed with your posts, and my online arguments reflect a fair amount of the links you post and discuss. Thanks hugely for the good quality, evidence based generosity.

    There’s loads of generosity out there, but not enough that;s evidence based.

  2. Reblogged this on X, Y of Einstein? and commented:

    Even nog een keertje wijzen op het bestaan van een Engelstalige zustersite bij X, Y of Einstein waar voor alle duidelijkheid vooral andere onderzoeken gepost worden. Zoals deze, een onderzoek naar de invloed van digitale afleiding in de klas.

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