Cell Phone Use and Concentration During Class
A Study to Determine the Correlation Between Cell Phone
Use in Class and Overall Concentration and Retention
Contact: Chuck Martin
chuck.martin@unh.edu (603) 750-3020
The Study
This study was conducted by student-researchers at The Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) to determine whether cell phone usage in class affects concentration and the amount of information received during a typical class. The study was also undertaken to determine average cell phone usage in class and what the most frequent cell phone usages in class are.
Background
Whittemore School of Business and Economics student researchers recently completed a study to determine whether cell phone usage in class affects concentration and the amount of
information received during a typical class. The survey was administered by members of a market research class led by Adjunct Professor Chuck Martin. A total of 1,265 students from all colleges at the university (College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, College of Liberal Arts, College of Life Sciences and Agriculture, College of Health and Human Services, Thompson School of Applied Sciences, and the Whittemore School of Business and Economics) were surveyed.
Executive Summary
During the Fall Semester of 2010, students in the Marketing Research class at the University of New Hampshire conducted a marketing research study to determine if cell phone usage in class affects the concentration of college or the amount of information received in class. The
researchers surveyed each college at the University and then tabulated and analyzed the results. The study found that students believe cell phone usage in class affects their
concentration and the amount of information received, but that they also feel more at ease after checking their cell phone in class. The results showed that the two most commonly used features are the clock, to check time, closely followed by texting. Nearly half of students (45%) frequently hide their cell phone usage in class.
Results and Findings
Cell phone use in class affects information received and
concentration
Across all colleges and all grade levels, the majority of students agreed with the statements that “Cell phone use during class affects the amount of information that I receive during class” and “Cell phone usage in class affects my concentration.”
Cell Phone Use During Class Affects the Information I Receive
Agree 52% Disagree 29%
More than half (52%) of UNH students agree that cell phone use during class affects the amount of information they receive during class, with 13 percent strongly agreeing with this statement.
Cell Phone Use During Class Affects Concentration
Agree 51% Disagree 31%
More than half (51%) of UNH students agreed that cell phone usage in class affects their concentration. Of these students, 15 percent strongly agreed with the statement that cell phone usage in class affects their concentration, while 10 percent strongly disagreed with this
statement.
Cell phone users check phone 1-5 times in class
0 times 1-2 times 3-5 times 6-9 times 10+ times
Smartphone 4% 26% 37% 16% 17%
Cell Phone 10% 36% 32% 12% 10%
Students who own a cell phone typically checked their cell phone 1-2 times with only 10 percent of the students selecting that they check their cell phone 10 times or more during class. For students that own a cell phone, 46 percent check their cell phone 0-2 times. This differed from students who own a smartphone. Those that own a smartphone had much more students that check their phone between 3-5 times. For students who own a smartphone, 70 percent check their cell phone more than 3 times in a class period with 17 percent checking their phone more than 10 times.
Most frequently used cell phone features
Frequently Infrequently
Clock (Checking time) 74% 17%
Texting 64% 23%
Social Media (Facebook, etc.) 26% 61%
E-mail 24% 66%
Surfing the Internet 17% 70%
Games 10% 82%
The clock (checking time) is the most frequently used cell phone feature during class and texting was the second most frequently used feature. This result was not consistent over each of the individual schools; however each of the classes (Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior and Senior) had consistent results.
Clock (Checking Time)
Frequently 74%
Infrequently 17%
The clock was the most frequently used feature, with 74 percent of students frequently using the clock during class. For those students that checked time frequently, 36 percent check the clock extremely frequently in class. Out of students that checked time infrequently, 8 percent of students checked the clock extremely infrequently in class.
Texting
Frequently 64% Infrequently 23%
The second most frequently used feature was texting, with 64 percent of students frequently texting during class. For those students who text during class, 28 percent text extremely frequently. Of students who text infrequently, 11 percent text extremely infrequently in class.
Almost half of students frequently hide cell phone usage in class
Frequently 45%Infrequently 29%
The researchers found that almost half of students at the University of New Hampshire
frequently hide their cell phone usage in class. Students who somewhat frequently hide their cell phone usage in class amounted to 34 percent and 11 percent of students extremely frequently hide their cell phone. This leads to a combined total of 45 percent of students frequently hiding their cell phone usage in class.
Checking Phone 6 or More Times Per Class
Males 21% Females 28%
Of all male students, 21 percent check their cell phone more than 6 times per class. Of all female students, 28 percent check their cell phone more than 6 times per class.
Frequently Hiding Phone Use During Class
Males 38% Females 51%
Of male students, 38 percent frequently hide their phone usage during class. Of female students, 51 percent hide their cell phone usage in class. This shows that females are 13 percent more likely to hide their cell phone usage in class than males.
Standard Cell Phone Ownership
Males 66% Females 71%
Of male students, 66 percent own a standard cell phone and of female students, 71 percent own a standard cell phone.
Smartphone Ownership
Males 37% Females 35%
Of all male students, 37 percent own a smartphone. Of all female students, 35 percent own a Smartphone.
Frequently Texting During Class
Males 61% Females 66%
Of all male students, 61 percent answered that they frequently text during class with 28% answering that they text extremely frequently. Of all female students, 66 percent answered that they frequently text during class with 32 percent answering that they text extremely frequently.
Class Standing
Type of Phone OwnedCell Phone Smartphone
Seniors 65% 40% Freshmen 73% 30%
There was roughly a 10 percent difference between freshmen and seniors in types of mobile devices owned; 73 percent of freshmen owned a regular cell phone, and 65 percent of seniors owned one. Additionally, 40 percent of seniors owned a smartphone, while only 30 percent of freshmen did.
Freshmen 75% Seniors 72%
Class standing did not have a significant effect on the amount of times students checked their phones. For seniors, 72 percent checked their phones 5 or fewer times per class. For
freshmen, 75 percent checked their phones at the same frequency.
Frequently Checking Clock During Class
Seniors 77% Freshmen 42%
However, 77 percent of all seniors check their phone’s clock frequently, while 42 percent of all freshmen check the clock on their phone at the same frequency.
Hiding Cell Phone Usage During Class
Seniors 53% Freshmen 37%
Out of all seniors, 53 percent frequently hide cell phone usage during class with 14 percent hiding cell phone usage extremely frequently. Out of all freshmen, 37 percent frequently hide cell phone usage during class with 7 percent hiding cell phone usage extremely frequently.
School Differences
When comparing the different colleges, it was clear that students at the Business School are more likely to own a smartphone than at any other college at the University of New Hampshire.
Business Students Cell Phone Owners
Cell Phone 56% Smartphone 51%
For the Business School the results were almost even, with 56 percent of all Business School students owning a cell phone and 51 percent of students owning a smartphone.
Clock (Checking Time)
Frequently
Business School 84%
Liberal Arts School 75%
Health and Human Services School 73%
Life Science and Agriculture School 72%
Engineering School 70%
Applied Science School 62%
In regards to clock usage during class, 84 percent of all Business school students frequently use the clock feature in class compared to 75 percent of Liberal Arts students. Students at the Applied Science School, the smallest school at the University, use the clock feature the least frequently (62%) in class.
Texting
Frequently
Business School 82%
Applied Science School 70%
Health and Human Services School 67%
Liberal Arts School 65%
Life Sciences and Agriculture School 56%
Engineering School 53%
In regards to texting during class, 82 percent of Business school students frequently text during class compared to 70 percent of the Applied Science students. In the Engineering School, students text the least frequently (53%) in class.
Students who check cell phone more than 10 times in a class period
feel more at ease after checking their cell phone than the average
UNH student
Another important result was that 67 percent of students who check their cell phones more than 10 times per class period feel more at ease and ready to focus after checking their cell
phone. However, only 14 percent of students who do not check their phones at all during class responded that they feel more at ease and ready to focus after checking their cell phone.
More than 99 percent of the student body at UNH owns a cell phone
More than 99 percent of the student body at UNH owns a cell phone. Of these students, 69 percent own a cell phone, 4 percent own a PDA and 36 percent own a Smartphone. This shows that the amount of students that own more than one cell phone is 9 percent.
Cell Phone Owners 69%
Smartphone Owners 36%
PDA Owners 4%
Students who own multiple phones
9%
Students who Own a Smartphone
Business School 51%
Liberal Arts School 38%
Applied Science School 39%
Health and Human Services School 29%
Life Sciences and Agriculture School 28%
Engineering School 27%
The Business School students have a significantly higher average (51%) of Smartphone owners compared to the other colleges.
Survey
Which of the following do you currently own? (Check all that apply)
Cell Phone 69%
Smartphone 36%
PDA 4%
Don’t own a mobile device
0%
During a typical class, how many times do you check your cell phone?
1-2 33%
3-5 33%
6-9 13%
10 or more 12%
0 9%
How frequently do you use the following phone features in class?
Frequently Neutral Infrequently
Clock (Checking time) 74% 9% 17%
Texting 64% 13% 23%
Social Media (Facebook, etc.)
26% 13% 61%
E-mail 24% 10% 66%
Surfing the Internet 17% 13% 70%
Games 10% 8% 82%
Where do you typically keep your cell phone during class?
Pocket 42%
Lap 22%
Purse/Backpack 20%
Desk 15%
Other 1%
How frequently do you hide your cell phone usage during class?
Frequently 45%
Neutral 25%
Infrequently 29%
How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statements:
Agree Neutral Disagree Cell phone usage during class affects the
amount of information that I receive during class.
52% 19% 29%
Cell phone usage in class affects my
concentration. 51% 18% 30%
I feel more at ease and ready to focus after
