1) Summarize the major categories discussed in the review of the literature
There are three sections in this study, the first section discussing mobile usage in class for texting, browsing and accessing the social media. Furthermore, texting is one of the most recent ways through which an individual can send information. The second category explains why students who use mobile gadgets in the classroom are finding it hard to retain what has been taught. For instance, while texting, the student’s attention is often divided, leaving him or her with very little concentration spans which eventually disrupts the learning process inside the classroom. Finally, the last section talks about why students who attend take notes and while attending lectures have a high capacity of retaining the information that has been passed in class than the ones who only listen. Besides, students who take notes create an external repository for storing the information.
2) Name the type of research design used for this study?
It is a quantitative experimental design since it seeks to establish the causality of what is happening. This is standard method that is often applied in with fee minor interdisciplinary differences in them. The hypothesis used must be proved through statistical or mathematical means. The whole experiment actually revolves around this.
3) List the hypotheses for study
The goal of the study is to asses he potential impact of texting in students not taking behavior. This meant that the students were divided into three groups and the following hypothesis used for testing.
H1: Students’ scores on a multiple-choice test covering lecture material will be greatest for the group that does not text/post, followed by the group with moderate texting/posting and then the group with frequent texting/posting behaviors.
H2: Students’ scores on a free recall test will be greatest for the group that does not text/post, followed by the group with moderate texting/posting and then the group with frequent texting/posting.
H3: Details recorded in students’ notes will be greatest for the group that does not text/post, followed by the group with moderate texting/posting and then the group with frequent texting/posting.
H4: There will be a positive correlation between the number of details recorded in students' notes and their scores on multiple-choice (H4a) and open-ended (H4b) tests over lecture material
4) Describe the selection of study participants
The participants in the study were students who are enrolled in different communication courses in the college. These students were required to participate in this research as a pool. All of them were randomly selected in each of the several projects that were being conducted in the school. Before the study, they had to complete a brief screening questionnaire. This was to help the administrators to confirm whether they have met the required conditions for the study. For instance, some of the conditions that they had to meet include (a) Being above 18 years of age and currently enrolled at the University (b) Having a mobile phone that can at least access the internet (c) Should not have taken human communication and interpersonal communication courses (Titsworth, 2004). Excluding these students was meant to ensure that all students that have previously taken courses that required the use of mobile phones were not in the study. The research procedure was approved by the university board before it could be started. These students were also divided into high distraction group, low distraction group and, of course, the control group. This was to ensure that the result obtained is perfect. All other aspects such as gender and age were consistent throughout the study since the majority was first-year students; hence little attention was paid to age.
5) Do you believe the selection of participants yields a representative cross-section of the study population to generalize results to the larger population? Why or why not?
No, it did not yield. This study was biased because researchers only considered one university, the majority of those who were sampled were in first year. Besides, the study was spread to cover a number of years. To come up with more accurate results, researchers could have chosen a larger population.
6) Describe the data collection process
The data used for the study was collected from the control group, high distraction, and low destruction groups. The control group was asked to concentrate on taking notes while the other groups were told to assume that they were texting and responding to the messages in class. High distraction and low distraction groups were asked to respond to each interruption as best as they could so that accurate results could be obtained. The primary objective was to determine whether browsing or texting interferes with the learning process in the colleges. Secondly, to determine whether he effects is significant enough to warrant students’ failure. The data was collected during video lecture and free calling test (Zickuhr, 2011).
7) After data collection, the analysis phase was conducted. Did the researchers follow acceptable data analysis procedures? Substantiate your answer with detailed reasons to support your response
A ‘t’test should be used for analysis in an experimental design that has a group information on independent variables and continuous information on dependent variables. This means that the researchers used the accepted data analysis procedures. ANOVA is also very effective in comparing two or more samples in statistics. Besides, the quantitative experimental design also uses ANOVA; hence it can be concluded that researchers used the best design. The researchers followed the best process since statistics is always used is quantitative research methodologies.
8) In Table 1, the footnote states has a p<.05. What does this mean?
This means that the p value is smaller or equivalent to the number that is under study, implying that the data is statistically significant. In other words, what is being evaluated has 95% chance that it did not occur hence researchers reject the null hypothesis.
9) The study used ANOVA. What does this do?
This is used to determine whether there are differences in two or more independent variables in the study.
10) In your own words, what’s the value of conducting a study like this one?
A study such as this one helps in determining how students behave while attending a lecture. It also helps in studying the effects of carrying mobile phones to the classroom. Finally, it shows how this affects the overall grades of the students. This can assist in coming up with suggestions on how the issue can be resolved so that those students can concentrate fully in the classroom. A study such as this one also points out the effects of using mobile phones in schools especially among college students.
11) If you could change anything about this study, what would you change and why? Is there another way that the researchers could have studied this issue?
References
Titsworth, B. S. (2004). Students’ note taking: The effects of teacher immediacy and clarity.
Communication Education, 53, 305_320. doi:10.1080/0363452032000305922
Zickuhr, K. (2011, February 3). Generations and gadgets. Retrieved from http://pewresearch.org
