February 1, 2007
Lecture-Hall Laptops Hurt Students' Grades, Study Says
Most professors can vouch for the fact that students with laptops sometimes seem a bit distracted in the lecture hall. A new study confirms that assessment — and makes the case that classroom diversions are hurting students’ ability to make sense of what their professors are saying.
The study, conducted at Winona State University, examined the behavior of students in two large psychology seminars, both held in lecture halls with wireless Internet access. Students who brought laptops to the classroom admitted that note-taking wasn’t always a high priority: Eighty-one percent said they checked their e-mail during class, 68 percent said they kept instant-messaging software open, and 25 percent confessed to playing games on their machines.
A semester’s worth of game playing and instant messaging might help students hone their Minesweeper skills, but it won’t improve their grades, the study said. Students who brought laptops to class ended up with GPA’s 5 percent lower than their computer-free classmates, according to the Winnipeg Free Press. —Brock Read
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fyi
— sgmccook@gmail.com Feb 1, 12:06 PM #
These results, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, could also be extrapolated to academic administration…how well are people really grasping ideas and contributing to informed decisionmaking if they are constantly checking their email on their laptop or Blackberry? We’re certainly not leading by example here and I think higher ed could benefit from a frank discussion about what is appropriate behavior — in the classroom or any group setting — in this very tempting age of digital media and ubiquitous access.
— SkepticalTechie Feb 1, 05:12 PM #
The study discovers that yes, people do something during the lecture other than listening or note-taking. How was this extrapolated to indicate a decreased understanding of the course material? Suggesting that laptops can cause a five percent drop in grade does not make sense unless students were separated into even groups, which I see no indication of; instead, percentage of laptop usage should be correlated to percentage of grade decrease. I suspect that no correlation can be found from such a comparison.
The study further states that the average amount of time distracted was 17 minutes out of 75. This means that 80% of the time, the laptops were NOT distracting the student. Is the suggestion that a 20% distraction rate results in a 5% grade decrease? Has a study been done to show that distracting a student for 17 minutes without a laptop does NOT decrease their grade?
Perhaps the proper conclusion of the study is that psychology notes should be written on paper. I know a fair amount of people who prefer the pen to the keyboard because their thoughts are clearer.
Incidentally, there are two stellar reasons to bring laptops into the lecture hall: one is the oft-noted ability to look things up immediately, but the less remarked (and thus, less frequently taken advantage of) advantage is the ability to discuss the material while the professor is speaking. Even stronger would be the ability to communicate with TAs during the lecture itself. Is this considered distraction?
— Michael Chui Feb 2, 05:40 AM #
The short answer to your question, Michael, is Yes…Looking stuff up while the professor IS lecturing is a distraction of your attention.
I’ve been a techie for most of my career (30 years) and I think we would all agree that there are some things for which paper is a better medium.
I think we’d also agree that it’s really easy to be distracted by thoughts which can be immediately served (as you’ve suggested: looking things up) rather than noted and attended to later while still paying attention to the business at hand.
Laptops are VERY handy to save time in research and in trascription but they CAN be disctracting for often bored students in occasionally boring lectures.
— Bobby Feb 2, 07:45 AM #
Perhaps the more salient issue is pedagogy. Let’s face it. Today’s students use IM, email, text messaging, etc in most of their day to day activity. If their classes leveraged the use of technology rather than considering it a distraction, the question of the effect of laptops in the classroom would be moot. Instead, assessment of different approaches to collaborative learning would be the central point of discussion.
— Rich Feb 2, 08:21 AM #
In business and laboratory meetings all over the world, laptops are key for note taking, presentations, and real-time research. People gain the discipline to utilize electronic media effectively.
Let’s note that we’re a discussing a 5% difference: (4.0 vs 3.8 for example). Also, why assume that the laptops as opposed to the wireless connectivity is the key issue?
To embolden schools to remove key electronic tools based on what appears (from this article) to be a pop research project is poor educational practices.
— William A. Feb 2, 09:13 AM #
Where are the statistics on students that doodled on their papers, made shopping lists, paid bills, or any other paper driven distraction? Was the class taught by the same professor at the same time of day – or was day and professor randomized out of the study.
The 5% difference can mean many things – as Michael Chui points out it could be the fact that “notes should be written on paper” or that writing helps re-enforce memory more than keyboarding. We don’t know the distribution of many variables in the classroom – it may be that 80% of the top psychology students attended the paper class or that the computer based class was filled with non-psychology majors yet they were very computer literate. Many things can account for the 5% difference. You can take two random sections of any class taught at your institution and get a separation of overall grades.
My point is that there is not enough data to conclude anything. I do personally believe that computers / collaborative devices of any kind are a distraction – but better research needs to be done to actually conclude that.
— H Feb 2, 09:17 AM #
Rich hit the nail on the head. The “sage on the stage” model is a dysfunctional pedagogy in this day and time when students need experience in collaborative, active learning to gain the competencies needed in the workplace and in life-long independent learning.
Jim
— James L. Morrison Feb 2, 09:18 AM #
This newspaper article is too skimpy on details. For example, I’d really like to know how they established causation since it’s very reasonable to assume that the type of student who would bring a laptop to class and not pay attention to a lecture would score lower anyway. Until the journal article is published, I think we should all wait to see what it says and how the researchers performed their research.
— Kevin Guidry Feb 2, 10:25 AM #
I agree totally with Kevin & H. on this. The newspaper article is interesting, but from an experimental research perspective it is impossible to make valid conclusions based upon the article. Furthermore, I daresay the title might change if there was a different instructional “strategy” used in the classroom — one that exploited the value of the technology. If the instructor simply lectures in a sense that gives no added value to the laptop then I feel confident in speculating that laptops would be distracting….just like cellphones, sudoku and crossword puzzles, gameboys, a magazine or any number of other articles that students can & do bring to class.
— Jeff. Cain Feb 2, 10:52 AM #
Good points for and against the findings. But I know that it’s EXTREMELY annoying to hear people pounding away on their keyboards when you’re attempting to listen to a professor. Period. It’s not scientific and it doesn’t necessarily impair grades, but it’s a noise I would have GLADLY done without in college.
— Leslie P. Feb 2, 12:59 PM #
If one reads deeply on the purpose and power of ubiquitous computing, even from the time of the ACOT studies, its power nor its vision was in note-taking. Larry Cuban noted that in most settings nothing about instruction changed with the infusion of computing technologies. To me, adding wireless laptops to the traditional lecture mix, especially when the lecturer did not ask for them to be there for some innovative and purposeful reason, is nothing more than adding additional distraction to the already distractable students. Top that off with a less-than riveting lecturer and you have a great recipe for something far less than what learning can and should be.
Do you suppose laptops in church or at a recial would fare any differently for some? Dittos to Rich and Jim’s comments.
— Steve R. Feb 3, 08:27 AM #