Does the Use of Social Media Affect Grades?

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Nicole Abbott
Stephanie Carrasco
Chad Parkening
Spring 2017
EDT 180B
Arizona State University
Gary Lewallen

Does Social Media Affect Grades?

 Group B1 Does Social media Affect
Grades?

Each year students at the university or college level are faced with the everlasting

challenge of doing homework and staying connected with their friends and family. This can be a

challenge for some students as social media can be a distraction. However it would seem that

other students use social media to their benefit. This paper researches whether or not social

media is a hindrance or an advantage when it comes to getting good grades.

Our survey was administered on 6 April 2017 with 126 total respondents to the survey.

Google Forms was used to build and submit the survey to other members of the EDT classes.

Demographics

For the basic demographics data we asked students What is your gender? The majority

of the 126 students that were surveyed were women at (75.4%) and men were (24.6%) of the

total population of the class surveyed. This may be an indication that women are in a higher

population overall in the EDT class or it may mean that men may hold off on taking this class

further off in their studies.

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Our follow on demographic question was What year in college are you? The majority

of the class (51.6%) stated that they were a freshman, followed by sophomore at (22.2%) and

junior at (19.8) and senior was the smallest category with (6.3%). This information coincides

with the assumption that most women take this class early on in their studies while male students

may hold off.

The average age of the respondents was between 17-21 years old (79.4%) followed by

22-26 age bracket. The 32-36 age group made up (4.8%) of the respondents with the 27-31 age

group reporting the smallest population (1.6%).

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There were many colleges represented in our demographics as well with 52 students

(41.3%) reporting that they were members of the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, followed

by 30 students (23.8%) which were from the College of Health Solutions. The next major bracket

was the College of Public Service Community Solutions with 16 students (12.7%). There were

many other schools represented however their numbers were not substantial and can be viewed

on the graph.

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Most students that were surveyed (36.5%) said that they have a GPA between 3.1-3.4.

Followed by (25.4%) of students in the 3.5-3.9 GPA range. Students with a GPA of 2.0-3.0

followed with 16.7% of the class and 2.0-2.4 students as well as 4.0+ Average GPA came in with

9.5% respectively. The smallest percentages reported were for the students with a 1.0-1.9 GPA or

(3.4%).

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Discussion

Our main research questions asked were focused around trying to determine if the use of

social media affects grades. We asked How much time do you spend on homework per week?

Most people (32.5%) stated that they spend more than 6 hours per week doing their homework.

This is a lot of time doing homework but averages out to less than an hour a day so it really is not

that much. Other students said they spent about 3-4 hours (26.2%) per week on their homework,

followed by (25.4%) of the class stating they spend about 5-6 hours per week on their

homework. Some students studied even less per week with (15.1%) of the class stating they

spend less than 1-2 hours per week doing homework with the smallest percentage (0.8%) stated

that they spend less than 1 hour per week studying.

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Our next research question asked How much time to do you spend on social media altogether

per week? We were surprised to see that many students (40.5%) spend over 6 hours per week on

social media. This could be anything from Facebook, Instagram twitter etc. Other students (27%)

stated they spent 5-6 hours per week on social media followed by other students (23%) reporting

3-4 hours of social media per week. Some students spent even less time on social media (7.9%)

spent 1-2 hours and (1.6%) of students spent less than 1 hour on social media. So it would seem

that students are doing a great deal of social media in their spare time.

Analysis

From the data collected in regards to the average GPAs in the classes most students were at the

3.1-3.4 GPA average or 36% of the class. Also students reported more than 6 hours of social

media and a large amount of studying time (more than 6 hours) consecutively. These results do

not show that the use of social media affects grades in a negative way. They do seem to point out

that students are using social media and studying more and that they are able to maintain good

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GPAs while using social media. There could be another explanation in that users with strong

GPAs and those that use social media in excess of 6 hours or more may be using social media to

do their homework. It may be important to ask if social media is used as a study aid. Students

may be using google docs or other study aids to collaborate with their peers and these hours

count towards their total social media time. This question would clarify exactly how social media

is being used and give a better answer when it came down to the main research question of

Does social media affect grades?