From The Sunday Times
April 12, 2009
Facebook fans do worse in exams
Research finds the website is damaging students’ academic performance
FACEBOOK users may feel socially successful in cyberspace but they are more likely to perform poorly in exams, according to new research into the academic impact of the social networking website.
The majority of students who use Facebook every day are underachieving by as much as an entire grade compared with those who shun the site.
Researchers have discovered how students who spend their time accumulating friends, chatting and “poking” others on the site may devote as little as one hour a week to their academic work.
The findings will confirm the worst fears of parents and teachers. They follow the ban on social networking websites in many offices, imposed to prevent workers from wasting time.
About 83% of British 16 to 24-year-olds are thought to use social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo, to keep in touch with friends and organise their social lives.
“Our study shows people who spend more time on Facebook spend less time studying,” said Aryn Karpinski, a researcher in the education department at Ohio State University. “Every generation has its distractions, but I think Facebook is a unique phenomenon.”
Karpinski and a colleague questioned 219 US undergraduates and graduates about their study practices and general internet use, as well as their specific use of Facebook.
They found that 65% of Facebook users accessed their account daily, usually checking it several times to see if they had received new messages. The amount of time spent on Facebook at each log-in varied from just a few minutes to more than an hour.
The Ohio report shows that students who used Facebook had a “significantly” lower grade point average - the marking system used in US universities - than those who did not use the site.
“It is the equivalent of the difference between getting an A and a B,” said Karpinski, who will present her findings this week to the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association.
She has not yet analysed whether a student’s grades continue to deteriorate the longer he or she spends on Facebook.
Some UK students have already spotted the potential danger. Daisy Jones, 21, an undergraduate in her final year at Loughborough University, realised the time she was spending on Facebook was threatening her grades - prompting her to deactivate her account.
“I was in the library trying to write a 2,000-word essay when I realised my Facebook habit had got out of hand,” she said.
“I couldn’t resist going online. You do that, then someone’s photo catches your eye. Before you know it, a couple of minutes has turned into a couple of hours and you haven’t written a thing.” Jones is among the few to have recognised the risks. According to Karpinski’s research, 79% of Facebook-using students believed the time they spent on the site had no impact on their work.
Facebook said: “There is also academic research that shows the benefits of services like Facebook. It’s in the hands of students, in consultation with their parents, to decide how to spend their time.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article6078321.ece
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Does Facebook Hurt Your Grades?
Monday, November 19, 2007
APS/IBM Research Internship for Undergraduate Women
For Undergraduate Sophomore & Junior females (majoring in chemistry, physics, materials science or engineering, computer science or engineering, chemical, electrical, mechanical engineering):
Research Internship
The American Physical Society and IBM co-sponsor a research internship program for undergraduate women. The goal is to encourage women students to pursue graduate studies in science and engineering.
Award
The internships are salaried positions typically 10 weeks long at one of three IBM research locations (San Jose, CA, Austin, TX, or Yorktown Heights, NY), and include in addition a $2,500 grant, plus the opportunity to work with an IBM mentor. The Watson lab has a full range of research, as does the Almaden lab, and the Austin lab focuses on software and systems. Research areas of the internship are individually chosen so as to optimize the match between the skills and interests of the student, and the ongoing research programs of the laboratory.
The starting and ending dates are chosen so as not to conflict with the student's school schedule. Assistance in finding and renting housing will be provided. Applications for summer 2008 will be due February 1, 2008, and notification of results will begin in early April.
Eligibility
-- Must be female with sophomore or junior standing at a US college or university at the time of application
-- Must be majoring in chemistry, physics, materials science or engineering, computer science or engineering, chemical, electrical, mechanical engineering
-- Must have a minimum 3.0 GPA
-- No citizenship restriction
More information available at:
http://www.aps.org/programs/women/scholarships/ibm/index.cfm
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