While a recent Internet usage study has claimed brief online breaks during the workday actually help boost employee productivity, it would appear students wandering online when they should be studying are prone to lower grades if they frequent popular social networks.
Is Facebook pulling down GPAs? Image: Facebook.
Despite insisting that social networking has no negative effect on their study habits, a recent survey of 219 college students in the United States has revealed that those using Facebook attain lower overall grades than those students who do not.
The study found that average student GPAs (grade-point averages) ranged between 3.0 and 3.5 for those who were active Facebook users, while those refraining from the network’s considerable lure registered averages of 3.5 to 4.0.
In providing support for the apparent grading shortfall, the survey also discovered that Facebook users only invested up to five hours per week on actual study time, while non users poured over their books for a minimum of 11 hours per week – and in some cases up to 15 hours and beyond.
Other numbers thrown up by the study include 65 percent of Facebook-using respondents admitting that they access the network multiple times daily. Interestingly, some 79 percent of those using Facebook insist that it has no impact on their academic abilities.
The suggestive study was conducted by doctoral student Arlyn Karpinski and graduate student Adam Duberstein – both attending Ohio State University – who were keen to point out the study’s parameters remain too narrow to definitively conclude that Facebook use influences reduced academic performance.
“It cannot be stated [that] Facebook use causes a student to study less,” commented Karpinski, “I’m just saying that they’re related somehow, and we need to look into it further.”
The results of the preliminary social network study are due to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association this coming April 16.
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