Effects of Cellphones on Students 1

A BRIEF INQUIRY ON THE EFFECTS OF CELLULAR PHONE USE ON THE

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF MAKATI SCIENCE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

A Research Paper Presented to

The English Language Department

Makati Science High School

Kalayaan Avenue, Barangay Cembo, Makati City

In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements in

Academic Discourse Writing

Adriel Marc S. Borja

Christine Flores

Leanne Angel Posas

10 – Fermi

March 2019
 Effects of Cellphones on Students 2

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

For the past two decades, mobile phones have become the primary source of

communication and information for people of all age groups. These small handheld

devices could provide access to immeasurable feats of knowledge, if only they were to

be used in the positive learning spectrum. While most educational departments permit

the bringing of cellular gadgets as part of their educational curriculum, consensus

debates on how these gadgets serve as a hindrance to the academic performance of

students. This paper provides an inquiry on the effects of cellular phone use on the

academic performance of the students of Makati Science High School. This examination

on the effects of cellphone use points out the positives and negatives of permitting

students on bringing these gadgets, and suggests the need for the development of new

guidelines that combines medical, social, behavioral, and educational approaches to

this problem.

A study of (Kraushaar & Novak, 2010) examines undergraduate student use of

laptop computers during a lecture-style class that includes substantial problem- solving

activities and graphic comments. The study includes both a self- reported use

component collected from student surveys as well as a monitor ide use component

collective via activity monitoring "spyware" installed on student laptops. The researchers

categorized multitasking activities into productive (course- related) versus distractive

(non course-related) tasks. Quantifiable measures of software multitasking behavior are

 Effects of Cellphones on Students 3

introduced to measure the frequency of student multitasking, the duration of student

multitasking, and the extent to which students engage in distractive versus productive

tasks. The researchers found that students engage in substantial multitasking behavior

with their laptops and have non course- related software applications open and active

about 42% of the time. There is an inverse proportionality between the gadget use

during lectures and academic performance, whereas the gadget screen time does not

significantly affect the academic rating of a student.

However, according to (Beland & Murphy, 2015), they found that mobile phone

use produced a negative impact on low-performance students, while a neutral impact on

high-performance students. They state that: “We add to this by illustrating that a highly

multipurpose technology, such as mobile phones, can have a negative impact on

productivity through distraction…however, these findings do not discount the possibility

that mobile phones could be a useful learning tool if their use is properly structured.”

With the implementation of a proper set of guidelines, schools may utilize this

technology in the positive learning spectrum.

 Effects of Cellphones on Students 4

B. Statement of the Problem:

The study “A Brief Inquiry on the Effects of Cellular Phone Use on the Academic

Performance of Makati Science High School Students” aims to answer the following

questions by the end of the research:

1. What are the positives and negatives of incorporating cellphone use in the

academic learning curriculum?

2. What is the relationship of the academic scores of the students and the

gadget screen time?

C. Significance of the Study

Although there are already existing researches regarding the impact of

cellphones in the educational curriculum, they focus on a wide range of control groups

with various types of students. This study shines light on the effect of cellular phone use

on Makati Science High School Students, whether it be positive or negative. It hopes to

provide a new perspective on how the public school system approaches the cellular

phone problem.

D. Scope and Limitations:

This study will focus on the gadget screen time and the academic scores of the

Makati Science Junior High School Students. The study will not include the Senior High

School Division, since they are utilizing a different educational curriculum. The study

would not tackle the psychological, medical, and social aspects of the problem. The
 Effects of Cellphones on Students 5

study aims to find the proportionality between the two main factors - gadget screen time

and the academic scores – in order to express the relationship between them.

E. Materials and Methods:

The researchers will conduct the experiment through a survey utilizing Google

Forms. The said survey will include two hundred (200) students from grade 7 to grade

10, with 50 participants per batch. The questions will include the student's academic

performance and how often they use their cellular phones. Other than that, there would

be additional questions on how they use their cellular phones and how it helps them in

their studies.

F. Definition of Terms:

Spyware - software that enables a user to obtain covert information about

another's computer activities by transmitting data covertly from their hard drive.

Monitor IDE - is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to

computer programmers for software development.

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CHAPTER II

DISCUSSION

Do You have a Cellphone?

3, 1%

199, 99%
Yes No

Figure 1. Number of Cellphone Owners Pie Graph

Figure 1 shows that out of the two hundred two (202) respondents of the survey,

three (3) responded that they did not own a cellular phone. As seen in the

representation above, only 1% of the total population of the respondents does not have

a cellular phone.

Gadget Screen Time

18, 9% 24, 12%
19, 9%

57, 29% 81, 41%

0-3 hours 4-6 hours 7-9 hours 10-12 hours 13+hours

Figure 2. Gadget Screen Time Pie Graph

Figure 2 shows the responses for the gadget screen time. It yields 12% for 0-3

hours, 41% for 4-6 hours, 29% for 5-7 hours, 9% for 10-12 hours, and 9% for 13+ hours.
 Effects of Cellphones on Students 7

As indicated by the data, majority of the students mostly spend 4-6 hours of their time in

using their gadgets.

Type of Activity
3, 1% 11, 6% 38, 19%

49, 25%

98, 49%

Academic Recreation Communication Academic and Recreation All Three

Figure 3. Cellphone Use Category Pie Graph

Figure 3 shows the responses for the major activity of cellular phone use. 19% of

the respondents use their cellular phone for academic purposes, 49% for recreation,

25% for communication, 1% for both academic and recreation, and 6% for all three.

This indicates that majority of the population uses their cellphones for recreational

purposes.

Type of Academic Activity

Educational Software 2
Educational Videos 30
Educational Websites 30
Documentation 22
Reference 33
Research 33

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Number of Respondents

Figure 4. Type of Academic Activity Bar Graph

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Figure 4 shows the responses for the type of academic activity that the

respondents usually engage with while using their cellular phones. The results yielded 2

for educational software, 30 for educational videos, 30 for educational websites, 22 for

documentation, 33 for reference, and 33 for research.

Type of Recreational Activity

Games 72
40
Movies 49
89
Other 15

0 20 40 60 80 100
Number of Respondents

Figure 5. Type of Recreational Activity Bar Graph

Figure 5 shows the responses for the type of recreational activity that the

respondents usually engage with while using their cellular phones. The results yielded

72 for games, 40 for books, 49 for movies, 89 for music, 15 for other responses.

Type of Communicational Activity

Personal Messaging 45
Video Calls 19
Calls 34
Texts 41

0 10 20 30 40 50
Number of Respondents

Figure 6. Type of Communicational Activity Bar Graph

Figure 6 shows the responses for the type of communicational activity that the

respondents usually engage with while using their cellular phones. The results yielded

45 responses for personal messaging, 19 for video calls, 34 for calls, and 41 for texts.
 Effects of Cellphones on Students 9

General Average
1, 0%
7, 4% 1, 0%
31, 16%

159, 80%

Below 80 80-84 85-89 90-94 95 & Above

Figure 7. General Average of Students Pie Graph

Figure 7 shows the responses for the general average of the students from the

survey. The results yielded 2 responses (less than 1%) for both below 80 and 80-84, 31

responses (15%) for 85-89, 159 responses (80%) for 90-94, and 7 responses (4%) for

95 & above. This indicates that majority of the population has an average of 90-94.

Regression Statistics

Multiple R 0.1166609

R Square 0.0136098

Adjusted R Square 0.0086027

Standard Error 3.4930744

Observations 199

Table 1. Summary of Multiple Regression Statistical Analysis

In order to analyze the correlation of the screen time and the general average,

multiple regression analysis was used in order to statistically express the values.

Microsoft Office Excel 2013 was used in performing the said statistical analysis. As

seen in Table 1, Multiple R = 0.1166609, thus indicating that there is a direct correlation

between screen time and the general average. However, R Square = 0.0136098, which

by definition means that there is only a 1.36% chance of the variances being related.
 Effects of Cellphones on Students 10

CHAPTER III

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

A. SUMMARY

A survey was conducted for the research titled: “A Brief Inquiry on the Effects of

Cellular Phone Use on the Academic Performance of Makati Science High School

Students”. There were a total of 202 respondents, where 199 answered that they were

in the possession of a cellular phone, while 3 that responded that they were not.

Majority of the respondents answered “Recreation” as their major type of activity while

using a cellular phone. There were only 2 out of 199 respondents who did not have a

passing general average for the previous quarter. The responses for the screen time

and the general average was then statistically analyzed using multiple regression

analysis, which then showed a direct correlation between the gadget screen time. This

shows that although the majority of the population uses their cellular phones for

recreation, the students are still able to excel academically.

B. CONCLUSIONS

The researchers were able to construct a correlation between the gadget screen

time and the academic performance. With the statistical analysis, the researchers can

therefore conclude that there is a direct correlation between the two variables, whereas

the gadget screen time increases, the general average increases as well. This may then

signify that gadget use has a positive impact on the academic performance of a Makati

Science Junior High School Student.

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C. RECOMMENDATIONS

While the researchers were able to conclude that there is an existing statistical

correlation between gadget screen time and the academic performance, the chances of

the two variances being related is extremely low. This may have been caused by the

responses from the survey, especially considering that the choices were too broad.

Thus, the researchers recommend the further specification of the choices in future

surveys, in order to reduce the standard statistical error.

The research “A Brief Inquiry on the Effects of Cellular Phone Use on the

Academic Performance of Makati Science High School Students” only focused on the

educational approach on the problem. Therefore, the researchers suggest for the

conceptualization of new studies that focus on the medical, social, behavioral, and

educational approaches to this problem.

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REFERENCES

Beland, L.-P., & Murphy, R. (2015). Ill Communication: Technology, Distraction &

Student. The Centre for Economic Performance.

Kraushaar, J. M., & Novak, D. C. (2010). Examining the Affects of Student Multitasking

With. Journal of Information Systems Education, Vol. 21 (2), 241-251.

Received by English Class Presidents:

Naomi Lean Marie Angelo Joshua Reinhard