Via Peter Nikken vond ik deze nieuwe studie bij Bitescience, kort samengevat:

• Browsing on Facebook and texting while doing schoolwork negatively impacts students’ grades.
• Students frequently use communication technologies while studying.
• Thus, it is important to make students aware of the fact that using Facebook and texting while studying can be harmful.

Ietsje ruimer samengevat:

• Students who used Facebook and texting while doing schoolwork had lower grade averages.
• However, emailing, talking on the phone, and using instant messaging while studying did not affect students’ grade averages.
• Students reported that while studying they spent an average of 60 minutes per day browsing on Facebook, 43 minutes per day searching on the Internet, and 22 minutes per day reading their emails (see Figure 1).
• In addition, they sent an average of 71 texts per day while studying.
• Critical notes: This study does not allow for any conclusions about cause (using communication technologies while studying) and effect (students’ grades). The results only show that some types of communication technologies are associated with students’ grades and cannot say anything about what causes what.

Ik sprak er via twitter met professor Nikken over en de causaliteit kan in beide richtingen gaan en zelf vermoed ik dat dit ook effectief zo is. Het onderzoek toont vooral de negatieve correlatie tussen multitasken en punten.

Abstract van het onderzoek:

The proliferation and ease of access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as Facebook, text messaging, and instant messaging has resulted in ICT users being presented with more real-time streaming data than ever before. Unfortunately, this has also resulted in individuals increasingly engaging in multitasking as an information management strategy. The purpose of this study was to examine how college students multitask with ICTs and to determine the impacts of this multitasking on their college grade point average (GPA). Using web survey data from a large sample of college students at one university (N = 1839), we found that students reported spending a large amount of time using ICTs on a daily basis. Students reported frequently searching for content not related to courses, using Facebook, emailing, talking on their cell phones, and texting while doing schoolwork. Hierarchical (blocked) linear regression analyses revealed that using Facebook and texting while doing schoolwork were negatively associated with overall college GPA. Engaging in Facebook use or texting while trying to complete schoolwork may tax students’ capacity for cognitive processing and preclude deeper learning. Our research indicates that the type and purpose of ICT use matters in terms of the educational impacts of multitasking.