Investigation of University Students' in-Class Smartphones Usage with Association Rules

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the university students' usage of smartphones in-class and reveal the relationships among the frequency of use, the purpose of use, reasons for the smartphone using in course, and demographic variables (gender and class). To achieve this aim, we used the correlational survey model. The study sample was selected from the students studying in an Education Faculty of a University in the east of Turkey in the spring semester of 2019-2020 academic year. The sample determined by the snowball sampling method consisted of a total of 577 students. The survey technique was used to collect data. The descriptive and relation analysis were used in the analysis of the data. Frequency and percentage calculations were made for descriptive analysis. For relational analysis, the association rule, one of the data mining methods, was used. It has been revealed that most of the students use their smartphones occasionally and mostly in messages, to do research and connect to social networks. It was observed that the main reasons that motivated students to use their smartphones in the courses were doing research about the course and using them in emergencies. Besides, students gave close answers about the effect of smartphone use on academic performance, and most of the students stated that they did not have difficulty focusing when using smartphones in the courses. Some students also stated that they did not use the phone as it distracted them, and it was forbidden to use it in the course. Results revealed that the boring course, negative attitudes towards the lecturer, and the course cause students to message and connect to social media. It was concluded that the occasional use of smartphones in the courses in cases of emergency and messaging does not affect students' academic performance and does not cause any problems in focusing on the course. Besides, most people who use their smartphones for researching, reading news, and messaging in the courses stated that they use their smartphones for educational purposes. Some suggestions were developed at the end of the study based on the results.