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Dividing attention in the classroom reduces exam performance
- Glass, A. L., & Kang, M. (2018). Dividing attention in the classroom reduces exam
- performance. Educational Psychology, 1-14. doi:10.1080/01443410.2018.1489046
This study measured the effect of using an electronic device for a non-
academic purpose during class on subsequent exam performance.
- Dividing attention between an electronic device and the classroom lecture did not
reduce comprehension of the lecture, as measured by within-class quiz questions.
- Instead, divided attention reduced long-term retention of the classroom lecture,
which impaired subsequent unit exam and final exam performance.
- Exam performance was significantly worse than the no-device control condition both
for students who did and did not use electronic devices during that class.
How Much Mightier Is the Pen than the Keyboard for Note-Taking? A Replication
and Extension of Mueller and Oppenheimer (2014).
- Morehead, K., Dunlosky, J. & Rawson, K.A. Educ Psychol Rev (2019).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-019-09468-2
“Many students use laptops to take notes in classes, but does using them impact later
test performance? … Mueller and Oppenheimer … concluded that taking notes by longhand is superior. We conducted a direct replication … and extended their work by including groups who took notes using eWriters and who did not take notes.”
“Some trends suggested longhand superiority; however, performance did not
consistently differ between any groups (experiments 1 and 2), including a group who did not take notes (experiment 2). “Group differences were further decreased after students studied their notes (experiment 2).”
“Based on the present outcomes and other available evidence, concluding which
method is superior for improving the functions of note-taking seems premature.”
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