Recent research has found that the presence of cell phones impairs attention during learning. The present experiment sought to better understand this phenomenon by measuring the effects of cell phone presence, cell phone notifications, and cell phone ownership (participant's or others) on attention. Attention was measured using a Stroop task in a…

Positive effects of study progress on the economic knowledge of bachelor students are evident and were often referred to as proof of the validity of tests in the context of a longitudinal analysis. However, differences between "domain-specific" (e.g., semester) or "discipline-specific" (e.g., attended courses) indicators of…

This study aims to track college students' on-task rate during the teaching process and to analyze the influence of instructional strategies on on-task rate through the aspects of observable and internal engagement indicators. Thirty-six undergraduate students at a higher education institution in China participated in the study. Students'…

This study makes an original contribution to the literature on social media usage for learning purposes through the phenomenological approach of enquiry. It examined the general motivations for social media usage, how social media is used to meet academic needs, perceived academic benefits, and how social media usage disrupts studies. A total of…

While technology offers educators many affordances to provide students with rich educational experiences, literature and empirical experience indicates that students' unstructured cell phone usage may have adverse impacts on student achievement and create a contagious climate of distraction. This research project seeks to understand students'…

Laptops are commonplace in university classrooms. In light of cognitive psychology theory on costs associated with multitasking, we examined the effects of in-class laptop use on student learning in a simulated classroom. We found that participants who multitasked on a laptop during a lecture scored lower on a test compared to those who did not…

Students in college make daily choices about how to use their independent study time, including choices about allocation of attention. Based on theoretical considerations and clinical studies, attention and the dividing of attention through multitasking is thought to have a relationship to performance levels. Research is only beginning to explore,…