TAR project published: "Digital Devices, Distraction and Student Performance: Does In-Class Cell Phone Use Reduce Learning?"

Two CIRTL Teaching-as-Research fellows from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Angel Hoekstra and Bethany Wilcox, had the research data gathered for their TAR project published on July 31st in Astronomy Education Review!

ABSTRACT: The recent increase in the use of digital devices such as laptop computers, iPads and web-enabled cell phones has generated concern about how technologies affect student performance. Combining observation, survey, and interview data, this research assesses the effects of technology use on student attitudes and learning. Data were gathered in eight introductory science courses at a major public university in 2010-2011. Results show a significant negative correlation between in-class cell phone use and final course grades, with use of cell phones corresponding to a drop of 0.36 ± 0.08 on a 4-point scale where 4.0 = A. These findings are consistent with recent research (1) suggesting students cannot multi-task nearly as effectively as they think they can. While 75% of students reported regular cell phone use, observation data suggests undergraduates typically under-report the frequency of their in-class use of digital devices.

To read the full text version, please go to: http://aer.aas.org/resource/1/aerscz/v11/i1/p010108_s1