With technology permeating social lives and education, multitasking has become a common part of everyday life. This raises the question: does multitasking affect school performance? A 2012 study published in Computers & Education gives a few answers.
Researchers Reynol Junco and Shelia Cotton did a study on the effects of digital media during homework and studying, and how it affected the GPA of 18-to-22-year-old students. Their study data showed that Facebook and texting while doing schoolwork negatively affected the students GPA, but emailing, talking on the phone and using instant messaging did not.
Some students from the University of Memphis were interviewed about their use of digital media during their homework or study time. All of the students interviewed agreed that taking time from studying to check text messages, answer the phone and get on social media distracted them from their studying.
“I guess I’m not a good multitasker — not if I’m doing [school] work,” Michael Pointer, a junior computer engineering major, said.
When asked if he considered himself a good multitasker, his first response was to say yes until he had to think of examples of effective multitasking.
“The research is clear on this—while we sometimes think we’re good at multitasking, none of us really are,” Researcher and Professor Brian Janz said. “When we think we’re multitasking, we’re actually focusing on each thing very briefly, before focusing on the next thing.”
Janz, a professor and researcher at the U of M, has spent the last 25 years investigating how technology affects the people who use it.
Although the data from the Junco-Cotton study said that emailing and talking on the phone does not have an effect on a student’s GPA, Janz said that students cannot successfully send emails, talk on the phone, text, use social media or surf the web while they are trying to study or do homework.
Pointer said that he typically studies between two and three hours, and during that time he spends about 30 minutes talking or texting on his phone, using the web or social media. While they were studying, the people surveyed in the Junco-Cotton study spent on average 60 minutes on Facebook, 43 minutes surfing the web and 22 minutes checking their email. They also sent an average 71 texts during study time.
“If I get tired or stressed, I’ll sometimes just look at [my phone] to get away from the homework,” Pointer said.
Daniel Waterberry, a recent graduate from the U of M, said that it is difficult for students to remain focused completely on their homework for extended periods of time.
“It’s like a normal part of life: everybody multitasks,” Waterberry said. “It’s hard to sit down and do one thing for more than a few minutes without your phone or without your computer.”
Waterberry said he knows that he is not a good multitasker and set up boundaries while he was in school to not get on his phone or social media while he was studying. As a result, he said he graduated with a 3.4 GPA.
“If you could have the discipline to sit down and just absorb what is in front of you that would help — I think it would have helped me,” Waterberry said.
“Multi-tasking is a misnomer,” Justin Lawhead, associate dean of Leadership and Involvement at the University of Memphis, said.
Lawhead said that unless the different tasks are related to the same topic, students are not multi-tasking, they are simply distracted.
“Popping out of personal into work, back and forth, I think is a pretty difficult task,” Lawhead said.
He does, however, think that it is possible for some students to be on their phones, surf the web and check their emails and social media while they are studying or doing homework.
“I think it really depends on the students and what kind of structure they have,” Lawhead said. “I think some students can do both.”
He suggests that if a student is successful at time management and is disciplined, he or she could be proficient at moving from texting, surfing the web and checking social media to doing homework and studying.
Janz said that it may be “ineffective” for students to study for long periods of time without taking a break. He recommends a system of studying and breaking to allow students to maximize their information retention and help them remain focused on their school work.
“What I would suggest students do is to study hard for 30 minutes, and then take a 10 minute break, where they get up, walk around and maybe check their email, texts, Facebook, Instagram, etc.,” Janz said.
He advised that students set a timer to keep them on schedule.
“By doing things this way, you get to study effectively, get a little exercise and also stay connected with your friends,” Janz said. “It’s a win-win-win.”
Janz and colleague Jason Sonnenfelt believe that regardless of the media or technology outlet, anything that students do that is not centered around their studying or homework is a distraction.
“It is very difficult to maintain focus when using mobile technology,” Sonnenfelt said. “Even email can limit productivity.”
Sonnenfelt is a professor in public and nonprofit administration at the University of Memphis, whose area of study is technology policy.
He, like Janz, believes that students should have set times to get on social media, check their text messages and take breaks while there are studying. Both professors allow laptops and cellphones in their classrooms and use them in their teaching, but they have strict guidelines for how and when the students use them.
Lincoln Todd, a junior, English major at the U of M, said that she is “old-fashioned” and doesn’t indulge much in technology and digital media. She said she doesn’t have the distraction of social media, surfing the web or texting while she is studying, but she does get distracted by cooking, tending to her dogs or answering phone calls. Todd has a Spanish minor to go along with her English major, and a 3.73 GPA.
“You just have to have your full concentration on [studying],” Todd said. “If you’re really going to study, you have to put your whole mind to it.”
