Date

4-2013

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Chair

Amanda Rockinson-Szapkiw

Primary Subject Area

Education, Higher; Education, General; Education, Sociology of; Education, Technology; Mass Communications; Black Studies

Keywords

African American, Cognitive Load Theory, Facebook, Multitasking, Social Media

Disciplines

Communication | Communication Technology and New Media | Education | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication | Race and Ethnicity

Abstract

This non-experimental, regression study examined the relationship between FacebookTM activity and academic performance for an African American sample population. The study was conducted at a large, four-year, private university in the Mid-Atlantic. All undergraduate, African American students enrolled in the College of General Studies, School of Health Sciences, and School of Education comprised the sample population. Volunteer participants completed a FacebookTM Activity Survey, which is an instrument used to collect semester grade point averages (GPAs), time-use of FacebookTM, multitasking information, type of FacebookTM activities, and demographic information. The results of the survey were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression statistics. The analysis showed the strength of the relationship between the predictor variables (average daily minutes of using FacebookTM, demographic data, academic data, daily minutes of multitasking, and types of FacebookTM activities used while multitasking) and the criterion variable (semester GPA). The results of the study suggested that FacebookTM activities did not have a statistically significant contribution on the participants' semester GPAs.

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