As freshmen at CU, Bryce Eaton and Natalie Rechter expected the usual challenges. Leaving high school for college means navigating an entirely new social atmosphere, succeeding in classes like Classical Mechanics and Mathematical Methods, and learning to accept (or ignore) the various eccentricities of new roommates. However, there was one challenge that neither Eaton nor Rechter anticipated: the effect of digital distraction on their success in the classroom.
Students often dread large lecture classes, but they are nearly unavoidable. Over 200 students can be packed into crowded lecture halls. In many of these classes, iPad and laptop screens flicker like candles. Every few moments, a cell phone vibrates or a message appears silently on a screen.
Cell phones are the biggest distraction, Eaton admits, explaining that his high school limited cell phone use. The problem is the knowledge that you won't get in trouble. I don't hesitate. The door is open.
The biggest distraction is having my phone with me, Natalie Rechter agrees. And people around me watching ski videos on their laptops, she adds with a tone of exasperation. It's like, why are you even here?
70% of students text in class, says Dr. Douglas Duncan, a researcher and astronomy professor at CU Boulder. And their grades are almost half a grade lower than the 30% of students who never text. And what about laptops?Much worse, says Dr. Duncan. Astronomy faculty who teach intro classes either have laptop users sit in the front row and promise only to do class work; or in the back row, where they bother others less.
Dr. Duncan expressed these alarming findings at his Discipline-Based Research Group last week. I asked him whether it is possible that students who don't text are simply better students. Maybe it's not the texting itself that is a problem but rather that students who text are more easily distracted or less interested in the topic? Yes, says Duncan. We cannot be sure that correlation implies causation. But, the data from our classes where the instructor most strongly discourages phone use is significant. It seems to me that the fact that a strong anti-phone policy minimizes the drop-off suggests that it is an effect for all students.
Research on this topic has been in the spotlight in recent years. In 2010, the New York Times published an article called Growing Up Digital about high school students whose grades suffer because Facebook is more engaging than homework. Driven to Distraction by Cal-State psychology professor Dr. Larry Rosen has recently been circulating the web. Rosen writes about the importance of implementing "tech breaks" so that students can focus for longer periods of time.
It seems clear that our brains adapt to new learning patterns. The more time we spend engaging with the fast-paced virtual world, the less patience we have for a one-hour college lecture. Cell phone messages offer instant gratification and studying for a chemistry exam offers future rewards that are not immediately tangible.
Dr. Duncan believes that implementing strict rules about cell phone and laptop use would help students focus. Others believe that we need to counter technology with technology. They advocate using interactive lecture tools like blogs and iClickers in the classroom to compete with the lure of social media.
The undergraduates I talked to seem to have a different idea. Many of them said that they aren't being sufficiently challenged. School isn't difficult enough, says freshman Kat Brown. It's easy to get distracted when you aren't engaged. Many students echoed her sentiments, often describing college professors who spoke too slowly. Are these students suffering from a decline in the quality of a college education or are they looking for soundbites and a fast stream of information? It is a very real possibility that freshman-level college classes are too easy for many students, but have these students learned how to ruminate over philosophical ideas, to research topics more deeply or to analyze and challenge their professor's theories?
If our classes become more fast-paced, tech-savvy, and interactive, will teachers be able to hold the attention of distractible students? Or should we resist catering to this desire for constant stimulation? Do professors need to focus on slowing students down so that they can once again learn to be critical thinkers, deep readers and patient problem solvers? Can we do all of this while acknowledging the importance of cutting-edge technology in our rapidly changing world?
In my next blog post I will continue to investigate the student perspective. I will extend these questions to undergraduates, graduate students, and teachers across campus.
Article by Ashley E Williams, ASSETT reporter
