Phone access in lectures causes lower exam scores

Niall Murray

College students who are allowed access to a phone or tablet in lectures do worse in end-of-term exams, an educational psychology study suggests.

Even those who did not use devices themselves but attend lectures where they are permitted for non-academic purposes have poorer results in later tests.

The findings come as discussions are widening here around the access to or use of mobile phones by students in Irish schools.

The Department of Education has directed that all primary and second-level schools consult with staff, students, and parents to devise policies around smartphones.

The study, led by Professor Arnold Glass from Rutgers University in the US, is said to be the first in a college classroom showing a causal relationship between distraction from an electronic device and subsequent exam performance.

Half of the 118 cognitive psychology students attended course lectures in which devices were permitted, while there was a ban on them in lectures attended by the other half.

The end-of-term exam scores of those attending lectures where devices were allowed turned out to be lower by at least 5%, of half a grade, according to the study report published in the Educational Psychology journal.

However, the study found that having a device did not lower scores in comprehension tests carried out during the lecture, meaning the main effect is on longer-term retention.

“These findings should alert the many dedicated students and instructors that dividing attention is having an insidious effect that is impairing their exam performance and final grade,” said Prof Glass.

To help manage the use of devices in the classroom, teachers should explain to students the damaging effect of distractions on retention — not only for themselves but for the whole class.

The use of smartphones in school was cited as the biggest challenge for day-to-day teaching by 8% of teachers who took part in an online survey for a students’ study website earlier this year.

While 60% who responded to questions from Studyclix.ie favoured a complete ban in their schools, some said they would allow limited use of phones in class.