Study: Internet Helps More Than Hurts College Students
Houghton Mifflin interviewed 896 students about their internet use and over half (59%) said that the internet has aided them in studying for classes. The most popular tool has been the online quiz; More than 3 quarters reported that they used this method the most. Video tutorials (29%) were next, followed by the use of tutors online and study groups online (24% and 16%, respectively).
Another popular tool that is being used is the e-Book. E-Books are basically electronic books, or the digital version of normal textbooks. And, despite the high cost of regular books or e-Books, 75% of students surveyed attribute their classroom success to the use of books.
Houghton Mifflin also stated that sales of books with online companion parts were up 100% in the last three years. This suggests that although we are a technology-based society, textbooks still play an important role. Katie Rose, the Houghton-Mifflin lead research and marketing staff member of the College division, agreed in the study. "Online study tools are a new resource that today's wired students can take advantage of that past generations didn't have access to," she said. "We're finding that students are increasingly using online study tools in tandem with their textbooks."
This highlights a basic principle outlined by Boston University Humanities professor Jeffery Vail. "In my 15 years of teaching, I've found that good study habits are inevitably linked to better academic performance. This is as true for freshman as it is for returning students," he stated in an interview.
Other interesting statistics were gathered from the study. Of the 896 students interviewed, 44% admitted they were procrastinators when it came to studying, waiting until the last minute to do so. 35% preferred the late hours to cram for the next exam, while almost half liked the mid-day. As far as distractions go, students are almost equally enticed by music or the computer (44 and 43 percent) with caffeine and food ranking third at36%.
Houghton Mifflin is a leading publisher of textbooks in the United States, garnering $1.4 billion in sales. They recently merged with Riverdeep, a courseware specialist, back in 2006.
SOURCE:
PR Newswire
URL:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/08-08-2007/0004641860&EDATE=
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3 Comments
Post a CommentIn order to even see how the study was conducted, you have to click on the link. The study claims to have used a "representative national telephone and Internet survey of 896 students
currently enrolled in college." I guess I am to assume that a "representative survey" means that it was a survey of a representative sample of the population? How was this representative sample chosen? Was this a simple random sample, were these convenience samples? "Houghton Mifflin also stated that sales of books with online companion parts were up 100% in the last three years," yes this is because publishers are now making these online companions more available; its a new technological advancement. Thats like saying computer sales were up 100% in the late 1990's, yes because they became more available to the public. "75% of students surveyed attribute their classroom success to the use of books," - do I even need to explain what is wrong with this claim? Nothing to do with the internet. I co
Nowhere in this article did the STUDENTS report that the internet helps MORE than it hurts them. The statement was" over half (59%) said that the internet has aided them in studying for classes." Just because this statement may be true does not negate the fact that surfing the internet can also hurt them. What's the definition of help? Did it actually boost grades? How many students reported using the internet for entertainment or procrastination? How can this study claim that the internet helps more than it hurts, when there is no data on how much time the students spent studying versus how much time they spent distracted by the internet. You CANNOT make a relational claim when you do not have two data sets and something to measure! Its not measuring anything, what is the operational definition? There is no GPA or test scores. This is not a study, this is a survey. All this "study" proves (with bias) is that students use the internet as a study aid. In order to even see how t
I am disgusted at this article and it makes me really sad to see statistics used to manipulate the general public, poor Deborah Dera. This study is full of research bias and has no grounds to make any claims. There is potential for interviewer bias, volunteer bias, response bias, (if you don't know these basic stats terms, google them) not to mention lack of logic. First of all, you cannot make any claims unless you have a true experiment. Which could have been accomplished by having two groups of students (randomly selected), one of which was allowed to use the internet (experimental group), one of which who was not allowed to use the internet (control group). They would then need to take a class or test and have data scores that could be compared. The two sets of scores would then be plotted next to each other to see if the group that was allowed to use the internet did better that the control group to see if it really helped more than it hurt.
Nowhere in this article did