Teenagers’ Smartphone Use during Homework: An Analysis of Beliefs and Behaviors around Digital Multitasking
Although research suggests that phone usage during academic activities is problematic for learning and performance, little is known about high school students’ digital multitasking during homework. This exploratory descriptive study surveyed 135 students from four public U.S. high schools to investi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-11-01
|
| Series: | Education Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/11/11/713 |
| _version_ | 1797510583288856576 |
|---|---|
| author | Alissa J. Mrazek Michael D. Mrazek Joshua R. Ortega Rosie R. Ji Sana S. Karimi Chelsea S. Brown Chelsie A. Alexander Maliha Khan Rhozhen Panahi Madeline Sadoff Ashley Scott JimiRose E. Tyszka Jonathan W. Schooler |
| author_facet | Alissa J. Mrazek Michael D. Mrazek Joshua R. Ortega Rosie R. Ji Sana S. Karimi Chelsea S. Brown Chelsie A. Alexander Maliha Khan Rhozhen Panahi Madeline Sadoff Ashley Scott JimiRose E. Tyszka Jonathan W. Schooler |
| author_sort | Alissa J. Mrazek |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Although research suggests that phone usage during academic activities is problematic for learning and performance, little is known about high school students’ digital multitasking during homework. This exploratory descriptive study surveyed 135 students from four public U.S. high schools to investigate teenagers’ attitudes towards digital distraction, smartphone use during homework, cell phone dependence, and motivations for digital multitasking. Our findings suggested that teens were distracted during homework about 38% of the time, and both mind-wandering and the use of digital devices contributed to this distraction. Of the students surveyed, 64% believed that they should focus more during homework than they currently did, and most were willing to try strategies such as silencing their phone or putting it out of sight. However, many were not currently using such strategies, and our data suggested that students may be spending approximately 204 h per year trying to complete homework but unintentionally distracted from it. We explored their current motivations and beliefs as a necessary first step for the creation of future interventions to help teens reduce their digital multitasking during homework. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T05:33:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6b25bf62784b4b43a7b6d80487fbd204 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-7102 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T05:33:22Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Education Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-6b25bf62784b4b43a7b6d80487fbd2042023-11-22T23:05:36ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022021-11-01111171310.3390/educsci11110713Teenagers’ Smartphone Use during Homework: An Analysis of Beliefs and Behaviors around Digital MultitaskingAlissa J. Mrazek0Michael D. Mrazek1Joshua R. Ortega2Rosie R. Ji3Sana S. Karimi4Chelsea S. Brown5Chelsie A. Alexander6Maliha Khan7Rhozhen Panahi8Madeline Sadoff9Ashley Scott10JimiRose E. Tyszka11Jonathan W. Schooler12Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USADepartment of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USADepartment of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USADepartment of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USADepartment of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USADepartment of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USADepartment of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USADepartment of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USADepartment of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USADepartment of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USADepartment of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USADepartment of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USADepartment of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USAAlthough research suggests that phone usage during academic activities is problematic for learning and performance, little is known about high school students’ digital multitasking during homework. This exploratory descriptive study surveyed 135 students from four public U.S. high schools to investigate teenagers’ attitudes towards digital distraction, smartphone use during homework, cell phone dependence, and motivations for digital multitasking. Our findings suggested that teens were distracted during homework about 38% of the time, and both mind-wandering and the use of digital devices contributed to this distraction. Of the students surveyed, 64% believed that they should focus more during homework than they currently did, and most were willing to try strategies such as silencing their phone or putting it out of sight. However, many were not currently using such strategies, and our data suggested that students may be spending approximately 204 h per year trying to complete homework but unintentionally distracted from it. We explored their current motivations and beliefs as a necessary first step for the creation of future interventions to help teens reduce their digital multitasking during homework.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/11/11/713smartphone usedigital multitaskinghigh schoolattentionfocus |
| spellingShingle | Alissa J. Mrazek Michael D. Mrazek Joshua R. Ortega Rosie R. Ji Sana S. Karimi Chelsea S. Brown Chelsie A. Alexander Maliha Khan Rhozhen Panahi Madeline Sadoff Ashley Scott JimiRose E. Tyszka Jonathan W. Schooler Teenagers’ Smartphone Use during Homework: An Analysis of Beliefs and Behaviors around Digital Multitasking Education Sciences smartphone use digital multitasking high school attention focus |
| title | Teenagers’ Smartphone Use during Homework: An Analysis of Beliefs and Behaviors around Digital Multitasking |
| title_full | Teenagers’ Smartphone Use during Homework: An Analysis of Beliefs and Behaviors around Digital Multitasking |
| title_fullStr | Teenagers’ Smartphone Use during Homework: An Analysis of Beliefs and Behaviors around Digital Multitasking |
| title_full_unstemmed | Teenagers’ Smartphone Use during Homework: An Analysis of Beliefs and Behaviors around Digital Multitasking |
| title_short | Teenagers’ Smartphone Use during Homework: An Analysis of Beliefs and Behaviors around Digital Multitasking |
| title_sort | teenagers smartphone use during homework an analysis of beliefs and behaviors around digital multitasking |
| topic | smartphone use digital multitasking high school attention focus |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/11/11/713 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alissajmrazek teenagerssmartphoneuseduringhomeworkananalysisofbeliefsandbehaviorsarounddigitalmultitasking AT michaeldmrazek teenagerssmartphoneuseduringhomeworkananalysisofbeliefsandbehaviorsarounddigitalmultitasking AT joshuarortega teenagerssmartphoneuseduringhomeworkananalysisofbeliefsandbehaviorsarounddigitalmultitasking AT rosierji teenagerssmartphoneuseduringhomeworkananalysisofbeliefsandbehaviorsarounddigitalmultitasking AT sanaskarimi teenagerssmartphoneuseduringhomeworkananalysisofbeliefsandbehaviorsarounddigitalmultitasking AT chelseasbrown teenagerssmartphoneuseduringhomeworkananalysisofbeliefsandbehaviorsarounddigitalmultitasking AT chelsieaalexander teenagerssmartphoneuseduringhomeworkananalysisofbeliefsandbehaviorsarounddigitalmultitasking AT malihakhan teenagerssmartphoneuseduringhomeworkananalysisofbeliefsandbehaviorsarounddigitalmultitasking AT rhozhenpanahi teenagerssmartphoneuseduringhomeworkananalysisofbeliefsandbehaviorsarounddigitalmultitasking AT madelinesadoff teenagerssmartphoneuseduringhomeworkananalysisofbeliefsandbehaviorsarounddigitalmultitasking AT ashleyscott teenagerssmartphoneuseduringhomeworkananalysisofbeliefsandbehaviorsarounddigitalmultitasking AT jimiroseetyszka teenagerssmartphoneuseduringhomeworkananalysisofbeliefsandbehaviorsarounddigitalmultitasking AT jonathanwschooler teenagerssmartphoneuseduringhomeworkananalysisofbeliefsandbehaviorsarounddigitalmultitasking |