The effect of texting on 18-22 year old college students’ test scores, and GPA.
Throughout college towns, at any given day or time, a person could stop on a corner and glance around to very likely see numerous students walking while texting on their cell phones. It may appear obvious that this action will cause those students to be distracted and possibly walk in to something or someone, yet there is a bigger problem to address. The larger issue I am interested in is the affect this heightened usage of text messaging may be having on the learning abilities of college students. In my study, I will look at the correlation between the amount of texting of 18-22 year old college students in the bay area in relation to their test scores, and overall GPA. It is believed students with a higher average of text messages sent and received, will correlate with lower test scores and GPAs.
This study will consist of 400, 18-22 year old college students from schools throughout Northern California. The colleges included, but not limited to, are Berkeley City College, UC Berkeley, San Francisco State University, Stanford University, Humboldt University, UC Davis, and CSU Chico. Participants will be recruited through work-study and on-campus advertisement. Participants will be offered a monetary incentive on a monthly basis, in return for information regarding messaging usage and their text scores and transcripts over a four year period. This will result in a random selection of students from the chosen schools, and be a representative sample of Northern California College students between 18 and 22 years of age. In order to give the study a general perspective on all college students, participants will not be chosen from specific degree...
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... when supporting or objecting to their decisions. The students, as well, will be able to use the information gathered in this study to make personal decisions on their amount of texting when deciding avenues to take in order to do well in their college career. Other positive uses for the information found in this survey as well. If it is found that texting may have a profound effect on education success, schools, as well as students, may be inclined to develop alternate uses for text messaging. As the acquiring of smart-phones is increasing among college students, it seems a compromise could be made where teachers and schools embrace text messages and use them to communicate with their students about assignments and other school-related communication. Overall, this study will allow a reassessment of possible necessary precautions and changes among college campuses.
Michael Rubinkam’s “Texting in class is Rampant” brings awareness to the fact that most students use their phones during a lecture to text. Many professors are starting to notice it and some have even gone to extremes by having punishments if they see a phone out. Michael Rubinkam conducted a number of surveys with students who attend Wilkes University to see how many students actually use their phones during class. The author also discusses with some professors at the university to see their opinion on how phone use in class can impact the student’s education and how it impacts them as well. There is no doubt that texting is a habit most high school and college students face. It’s our primary way of communication with people. We get so addicted to texting people considering it only takes a few seconds to reply, but with that being said does it interfere with our school life too? Sitting in a lecture and pulling your phone out can be distracting because you’re not paying attention to the professor and the skills they’re teaching you’re practically in your own world at that point. Is the excessive use of texting in class-harming student’s education? The author
Michaela Cullington, a student, wrote a paper “Does Texting Affect Writing?” in 2010 for an English class. The paper is an examination of texting and the belief that it negative effective student’s writing. Cullington goes into detail about textspeak- “language created by these abbreviations”- and their use in formal writings. She organizes the paper in a way that is confusing to understand at first (pg. 1). At the end of the paper, she discusses her finding in her own research which comes to show that texting does not affect writing. But this is contradicting to the information she received from the teachers. The students and the teachers were seeing differences in the use of textspeak in formal writing. Cullington has good support for her
Today in the Twenty-First century we have surpassed many technological advancements and excelled far past what we would have ever thought. One of our greatest technological advancements is the thing we hold in our hands everyday, our cell phones. Sometimes we don't realize just how much our phones can distract us from our lives. As a generation glued to our phones us teenagers send an average of 3,339 texts per month. In Randy Cohen's essay, “When texting is wrong” he states how we are overcome by texting and how it damages our social and personal lives.
Technology has been slowly integrated into the classroom for many years now. Some maybe older than others, but they have all seemed to make the learning and teaching process much easier and effective. Computers were introduced to the curriculum to help students better understand data collection, research, and word processing and Power Points were even added to give visuals to lessons. Cell phones on the other hand have been given the cold shoulder, and even completely banned by some schools. According to the article, “Are We Dialing Up Disaster,” by George Engel and Tim Green, eighty-four percent of high school students report to owning a cell phone and that number continues to increase (Engel 39). Because students are distracted by the use of cell phones, schools around the country have made a stand to make sure they are not inhibiting the learning process. But do the bans really make a difference? Students seem to still be sending text messages in class.
In our world there are many forms of communication and these devices are beginning to take a toll on our younger generations. In Jeffery Kluger’s article,” We Never Talk Anymore: The Problem with Text Messaging,” the idea that younger generations are becoming socially inept due to technology is discussed. As these younger generations consume texting as a main form of communication other important social skills deteriate.
Text messaging has become a norm in our generation, as technology rapidly advances and gives way to more efficient forms of communication in a fast-paced world; and many are skeptical about the influence this new form of interaction is having on our society, especially with our younger generation. David Crystal, a professor at the University of Wales, writes “2b or Not 2b?” in support of text messaging. He insists, despite those who underestimate or negate the beneficial influence text messaging has on language proficiency, that “there is increasing evidence that [texting] helps rather than hinders literacy” and that the fairly recent form of communication has actually been around for a while and “is merely the latest manifestation of the human ability to be linguistically creative and to adopt language to suit the demands of diverse settings. In contrast, Jeffery Kluger argues in “We Never Talk Anymore: The Problem with Text Messaging” that text messaging is rapidly becoming a substitute for more genuine forms of communication and is resulting in difficulty among young peoples of our generation to hold a face-to-face conversation, engage in significant nonverbal expression, and ultimately build effective relationships with family, friends and co-workers. Both writers’ present valid arguments, however, my personal experience with text messaging has led me to agree more with Crystal’s view on the matter. Text messaging is indeed having a positive effect on society by making frequent texters primarily aware of the need to be understood, as well as offering betterment of spelling and writing through practice, and reinventing and expanding on a bygone dimension of our language through the use of rebuses and abbreviations.
The fastest growing form of communication in America’s society is texting. David Mercer brings up a valid argument about how the appearance of texting was not a slow process, parents never had an opportunity to experience texting so they have no way of teaching their children how to use it responsibly (Carter). Texting is so common it carries over into our everyday lives easily and at times becomes controlling. America’s society thrives on the conveniences texting provides us. While texting is fast and convenient it has numerous faults that affect our society mentally and socially. Texting can be beneficial as it simplifies our lives at times; however, there are numerous negative effects texting has on our society.
Texting and technology are quickly taking over our lives, we are free to send messages and view messages at our own leisure. Nonetheless, students are educated and know that text speak is not fitting for professional academic writing. Disregarding the evidence for and against texting, Cullington’s own results maintains the idea that texting has no effect on the students’ writings. I would say that her response is persuasive because she was able to survey and conduct an interview study on past teachers and students, as well as get their views on this topic. Moreover, she does an exceptional job performing a throughout study asking relative question as well as being able to personally read and analyze English writing for
These major changes show in the classroom. Texting affects students in the classroom, and the teachers.
In the sources that I found about text message and teen literacy, it showed and also informed me on how teens take the next talk to the classrooms in schools and how it creates bad grammar among themselves. During my research I found out that many kids and kids use shorthanded text and it affects their literacy in so many ways. We as teens don’t think that our findings will benefit anyone unless they want to have a short knowledge in grammar. As teens we don’t really see how doing something wrong can harm us. Such as texting shorthanded, and with silly faces. It affects our literacy by not knowing how to correctly punctuate their words, grammar and speaking. In the research that I looked up, that teens send about one thousand eight hundred
Step onto any college campus and take a look around. You will find clumps of students standing around in circles, phones in hand, typing away. What is it they are doing? Texting. Ever since the first text message was sent in 1993, the use of text messaging as a means of communication has spread like wild fire, especially amongst the adolescent generation. And with this new form of communication a new language has appeared; text-speak, the shortening of common words into abbreviations and acronyms (Drouin 49). While texting and the text-speak language seem to have been welcomed by many, what affect is this new technology having on the way we communicate? Is it possible that texting is negatively affecting our ability to use formal written communication, or is this idea just a myth perpetuated by negative media attention? And what changes has texting brought to the way we communicate person-to person? Are these changes positive, negative, or perhaps a mixture of both?
There has always been controversy as to teens not being able to concentrate and focus because of texting and cell phone use. Visiting any U.S. high school can show the lack of concentration and focus of students caused by using their phones. Benefits of having a cell phone can have the advantage of reporting crimes as they happen, handling an emergency, and always being connected with friends and family; however there are drawbacks such as reducing concentration, having poor grades, and causing an accident while the driver is using his phone. They (cell phones) allow people to stay connected to friends and family, for example, and provide a way to report crimes and emergencies.” (How Does Cell Phone Use Impact Teenagers 9).
The question of young people, cell phone use and texting causing young people to be less able to concentrate and focus has always been a difficult one to answer. Technology gives teenagers so much but includes many drawbacks. Cell phone use and texting has it’s advantages such as teachers embracing tech,uses for educational purposes, and easy to use;however,some drawbacks are as socializing,time away from homework,and bad communication skills. The first advantage would be teachers embracing tech in the classroom. Teachers embrace tech as a teaching tool in a way the students will understand.
“Texting in Class a Growing Problem.” TheKanson.com. 7 December 2010. Singel, Ryan. The.
One problem students face, resulting in lower grades, is the distraction that social media has the ability to cause in school. The desire to go on social media in class, results in students not paying attention and eventually lower test scores. (Lederer 1) At some schools teachers are oblivious to the fact that students are on Instagram, twitter, and many other applications f...