Education · Level 1 · Foundation
The impact of classroom seating location and computer use on student academic performance
Will P, Bischof WF, Kingstone A (2020). PLOS ONE. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0236131 · CC BY 4.0
Step 1 of 2Read the paper
Do students who sit further back, or who take notes on a laptop, get lower grades, and do the two habits make each other worse? Researchers recorded where students sat and whether they used a computer in five large first-year psychology classes on three occasions, then linked this to their final course grades.
Read the paper below Free to read · the full paper is on this page
How to read it
- The last two paragraphs of the Introduction explain the "additive vs interaction" idea the whole study tests.
- In Methods, note how seat row and computer use were recorded and what the final grade was made of.
- Fig 1 is the key result: compare the two lines (computer vs no computer) across the rows.
- Read the final Discussion paragraph for what the authors admit they cannot yet claim.
Step 2 of 2Take the test
5 questions · about 30 minutes including reading · pick an answer to see straight away if it’s right. Nothing is saved.
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Paper: Will P, Bischof WF, Kingstone A, PLOS ONE (2020), licensed CC BY 4.0. Summary and questions are Research Nest’s own; read the original for the full study.