FINAL Nursing Thesis

I.

INTRODUCTION

Background and Rationale

Socialization among today’s youth has evolved. Face-to-face communication has been replaced with email, social networks and other online tools. The internet has provided opportunities to enhance, create and rediscover social ties that make a difference in the lives of mankind. As compared to traditional communications, the internet lowers constraints like cost geography and time, and it basically supports the type of open information sharing which brings people together. Everything is easy, fast, and can be achieved through one click. Wikipedia defines social networking as “an online service, platform or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social network or social relations among people who share interests or activities.” Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Friendster and the likes are gaining popularity these days with its market among the students. Involvement to this sites has become trendy and engaging. Studies show that engagement to social networking sites fosters friendship, boosts self-confidence and promotes connection. Social networking sites are now the focus of investigation by numerous social science researchers and an increasing number of academic commentators because of their extensive impact to personal and academic lives of students using them. Asides from social networking sites, online gaming provides addictive means in which the individual craves social interaction. Defined as, ‘ a game played over 1

some form of computer network,’ it can be in form of shooter games, real-time strategy games, browser games or massively multiplayer online games. Online gaming is being patronized just as much as social networking sites. It is a new world where time, space and distance are non-issues and cultural barriers are broken down. There is a strong sense of community where friendships are made and enemies are trashed. The youth has become too attached to online gaming that it has become an addiction, which makes it hard to step away. The research aims to provide a connection between social networking and online gaming to the academic performance of BS Nursing students. The target population for the research was defined as the students who form the major chunk of users of the internet in terms of social networking site and online gaming. This was done to have better insight into the research as the target population was one of the most avid users of the internet and is expected to provide exceptional responses. It is expected that understanding the questionnaire would be easy for them as they are familiar with these and are quite clear about the reasons they use it and for the various problems that they now face because of the effects of addiction to social networking sites and gaming.

Objectives of the Study General Objective The objective of the study is to determine the effect of social networking and online gaming on the academic performance of RTRMF 2nd year BS Nursing students 2011. 2

Specific Objective Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions: 1. What is the demographic profile of the students in terms of: A. Age of Students B. Gender of Students C. Time Spent in Social Networking Sites D. Time Spent in Online Gaming 1. Is there a significant difference between Social Networking Involvement and Academic Performance of 2nd year BS Nursing students? 2. Is there a significant difference between Exposure to Online Gaming and Academic Performance of 2nd year BS Nursing students? 3. Is there a significant difference between Social Networking Involvement and Exposure to Online Gaming of 2nd year BS Nursing students? 4. Which among the two factors affect the student’s academic performance the most?

Hypothesis

The hypotheses to be tested throughout the course of the study are: 1. There is no significant relationship between Social Networking Involvement and Academic Performance of 2nd year BS Nursing students. 2. There is no significant relationship between Exposure to Online Gaming and Academic Performance of 2nd year BS Nursing students. 3

3. There is no significant difference between Social Networking Involvement and Exposure to Online Gaming of 2nd year BS Nursing students

Significance of the Study The findings of the study are deemed significant to: The students to gain extensive information on the social networking and online gaming that they may apply these knowledge to their advantage. That they may be able to learn both the positive and negative impact of internet usage to their lives, and hopefully lead to a realization of their own standing in terms of addiction to social networking and online gaming. The Family, with sufficient know-how, they may be able to provide effective intervention to influence their child’s social networking and/or gaming habits. Further, that they may be able to sustain the socialization needs of their child and provide guidance in the use of internet. The Community that they may have a thorough understanding of the attention and intervention that must be given to our youth to address unmet basic, social needs. That they may form a strong coalition to solidify the support on controlling the use of internet thus reducing the risk of assimilating such activities. Future researchers that they may be able to do in-depth research on the effect of social networking sites and online gaming to the youth.

4

Scope and Limitations

The study is a descriptive study on the effect of social networking sites and online gaming on the academic performance of 2nd year nursing studies. This study, however, does not attempt to explain in-depth how these two factors affect a student’s scholastic rating. The study will be conducted within a time frame of one semester to one hundred 2nd year nursing students. The underlying assumption is that the survey conducted in limited area represents the general psyche of the users of the social networking site and gaming. The academic standing will be based on their grade on one subject alone. It shall not consider the flexible grading system employed by instructors for evaluating student’s academic performance based on general point average. The study is limited to identifying the association of the two variables to academic performance. It is set on natural environment and shall not in any way, attempt to influence the behaviour of its respondents. The level of engagement to social networking sites and online gaming is set, but not explored. The potential explanatory factors for the students excessive indulgence in social networking and online gaming is not examined, nor its reasons. For purposes of limitation, the respondents are limited to 2nd year BS Nursing students of RTRMF. Another limitation was the availability of respondents since there are different schedules among different year levels. The researchers also apprehend the cooperation of the respondents to answer the questionnaires truthfully and completely.

5

Definition of Terms

Social networking sites- are social network services that focus on building online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others.

Academic performance-refers to how students deal with their studies and how they cope with or accomplish different tasks given to them by their teachers.

Online Games- games that are played through the internet.

6

I.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Review of Related Studies

A. Social Networking

A study was conducted by Whittemore School of Business and Economics students to determine the relationship between online social media usage and grades of college students. Results shows that there is no correlation between the amount of time students spend using social media and their grades. The most popular online network was Facebook with 96 percent of all university students saying they use it on a typical day. Further, there was no correlation between grades and the social media platform used. Almost the same number of heavy and light users of both Facebook and YouTube received the same category of high and low grades. On a typical weekend day, 41 per cent of students increase their usage of the social media networks, five percent of those significantly increase.

Majority of students use these networks for social reasons and

entertainment.

Don Tapscott, author of Grown Up Digital says in an article that ‘there is not a shred evidence that Facebook is bad for young people. On the contrary, it is a wonderful thing that with balance, helps them grow, helps their mental abilities develop and it should be encouraged. 7

Another study tells a different side. According to Arya Karprinski’s study of about 219 students, 148 Facebook users had a full grade point lower than those who do not have Facebook. People that did not use Facebook reported that they study about 11-15 hours and those who had Facebook only studies 1-5 hours per week. 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 this site.

A team of researchers from Harvard and University of California, Los Angeles are monitoring the Facebook profile of an entire class of students at one college. Their goal is to study how personal tastes, habits and values affect the formation of social relationships and how social relationships affect tastes, habits and values.

According to a research presented at the American Educational Research Association 2009 annual conference in San Diego, California, US, college students who use Internet social networking sites study less and have lower grades.

S. Shyam Sundar, a professor and founder of the Media Effects Research Laboratory at Penn State, has led students in several Facebook studies exploring identity. One involved the creation of mock Facebook profiles. Researchers learned that while people perceive someone who has a high number of friends as popular, attractive and self-confident, people who accumulate too many friends (about 800) or more are seen as insecure. 8

In Hargittai’s study, he said no evidence was found that Facebook use correlates with lower academic achievement. He further added that basic Facebook use simply does not have generalizable consequences for grades. According to his study, the doubts about the use of social networking sites vis-a-vis students are reminiscent to those cast on earlier new media, including TV and motion pictures, and their effect on children. He emphasized however that if students are spending excessive time on Facebook at the expense of studying, their academic performance may suffer.

Students are using social networking sites more than many school administrators may realize. Despite the fact that most schools block access to such sites via school computers, 9-17 year olds spend as much time using the Internet for social activities as they spend watching television-about 9 hours a week, according to a 2007 study by the Alexandria, VA-based NSBA. The study of more than 1,200 students found that 96 % of those with online access had used social networking technology-including text messaging- and 81 % said they had visited a social networking website at least once within the 3 months before the study was conducted.

B. Online Gaming

In a study of the impact of online-game playing on life satisfaction of gamers on different personality dimensions, Chen et al found that neuroticism in gamers had a negative influence on life satisfaction. Neuroticism also has a 9

significant negative influence on subjective well being in teen gamers. A negative relationship between web surfing frequency and life satisfaction has also been found.

In another study, Parker et al found that emotional intelligence was a strong-to-moderate predictor of addiction-related behaviours like excessive Internet use,

online

gaming

addiction

and

online

gambling

problems.;

youth

with

deficiencies in ability to read, express and elicit desired emotions may be more prone to partake in online-addiction behaviours. Ko et al reached a similar conclusion and found out that Internet addiction was related to problematic alcohol use in a sample of Taiwanese high school students. At the Syracuse University, Associate Professor of Psychology Joshua Smyth has conducted one study to try to determine the negative and positive effects of gambling. He assigned gamers to four groups: single-player console games, singleplayer PC games, single- player arcade games and fantasy themed MMORPG. For the gamers of the MMORPG group, they reported a much lower level of overall health and well-being than the other groups. They were also observed to not be sleeping as well as they should and their quality and quantity of real-life socialization and academic work saw a sharp decrease. It was theorized that MMORPGs were so complex, so fantastical and alluring and so involved that the gamers reported they had “lost track of time while playing, had gone to bed late and forgotten to eat.” After only a few days of such activity, all the gamers of the MMORPG group showed a dramatic decrease in all areas of health. From the same study, Prof. Smyth found that the MMORPG gamers group reported a much greater enjoyment and sense of reward from the game. They also 10

reported having a high interest of going back to the game to play some more at a later time. One more surprising benefit found was the rise in the gaining of new friends as compared with the single-player groups, and the level of cohesion that often develops among players of MMORPGs. However, although there are some positive effects that are possible from computer game use there are mostly negative effects. Several professors conducted a research project to determine the effect of gaming on academic performance. According to the Australians Journal of Educational Technology: “Gaming Frequency and Academic Performance” individuals who spend two or more hours playing games on a daily basis score lower in every subject than their nongaming counterparts. By spending a high percentage of time on video games there is not enough time left to spend in studying for classes. The study found out that there was not a single positive correlation between gaming and academic performance.

Review of Related Literature

A. How Social Network Sites Work

Social networking sites are web-based services that allow individuals to construct a public or a semi-public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users whom they share a connection and view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site.

11

For the past years, social networking has been very popular for people worldwide. Social networking is a great form of entertainment. It allows users to meet new people, reconcile with old friends, and find friends across the globe with the same interests.

The term “social network site” is used to describe this phenomenon, and is alternately used with “social networking sites”. The term “networking” emphasizes relationship initiation, often between strangers. On most sites, participants are not necessarily looking to meet new people, rather they are primarily communicating with people who are already part of their extended social network.

The main types of social networking services are those which contain category divisions, (such as former classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self-description pages) and a recommendation system linked to trust. Popular methods now combine many of these. Facebook is widely used worldwide.

The backbone of social network sites consists of visible profiles that display an articulated list of friends who are also users of the system. Profiles are unique pages where one can type itself into being. After joining a site, an individual is asked to fill out forms containing a series of questions. The profile is generated using the answers to these questions, which typically include descriptors such as age, location, interests and an “about me” section. Most sites also encourage users to upload a profile photo. Some sites allow users to enhance their profiles by adding

12

multimedia content or modifying their profile’s look and feel. Other, such as Facebook, allow users to add modules or applications that enhance their profile.

The visibility of a profile varies by site and according to user discretion. By default, profiles on Orkut or hi5.com are crawled by search engines, making them visible to anyone, regardless of whether or not the viewer has an account. Alternatively, sites like MySpace allow users to choose whether they want their profile to be public of “Friends only”. Facebook takes a different approach-by default, users who are part of the same network can view each other’s profiles, unless a profile owner has decided to deny permission to those in their network. Structural variations around visibility and access are one of the primary ways that social network sites differentiate themselves from each other.

After joining a social network site, users are prompted to identify others in the system in which they have a relationship. The label for these relationships differs depending on the site popular terms include “Friends”, “Contacts” and “Fans”. Most social network sites require bi-directional confirmation for friendship, but some do not. These one-directional ties are sometimes labelled as “Fans” or “Followers” but many sites call these “Friends” as well. According to Boyd (2006), the term “Friends” can be misleading, because the connection does not necessarily mean friendship in the everyday vernacular sense, and the reasons people connect are varied.

The public display of connections is a crucial component of social network sites. The Friend’s list contains links to each Friend’s profile, enabling 13

viewers to traverse the network graph by clicking through the Friends list. On most sites, the list of friends is visible to everyone who is permitted to view the profile, although there are exceptions.

Most social network sites also provide a mechanism for users to leave messages on their Friend’s profiles. This feature typically involves leaving “comments” although sites employ various labels for this feature. In addition, social network sites often have a private messaging feature similar to webmail. While both private messages and comments are popular on most of the major social network sites, they are not universally available.

Beyond profiles, Friends, comments and private messaging, these sites vary greatly in their features and user base. Some have photo-sharing or video sharing capabilities; others have built-in blogging and instant messaging technology.

While social network sites are often designed to be widely accessible, many attract homogenous populations initially, so it is not uncommon to find groups using sites to segregate themselves by nationality, age, educational level, or other factors that typically segment society, even if that was not the intention of the designers.

b. Social Network Sites have favourable effects

14

A favorable aspect of social networking sites is their ability to connect people of seemingly different culture, background and living location despite the glaring distance in between, promoting intercultural relations and stronger ties. It also increases the chance for single individuals to find their potential partners and with such a vast array to choose from, nonetheless. But even with these obvious advantages, there is still the looming threat of the misuse of these websites. A pressing danger is those of internet sexual predators, who use these networking sites to lure in potential victims, most of which are children ranging from nine to seventeen years old, sometimes even younger. Wikipedia reports that social networks are also being used by teachers and students as a communication tool. Because many students are already using a wide-range of social networking sites, teachers have begun to familiarize themselves with this trend and are now using it to their advantage. Teachers and professors are doing everything from creating chat-room forums and groups to extend classroom discussion to posting assignments, tests and quizzes, to assisting with homework outside of the classroom setting. Social networks are also being used to foster teacher-parent communication. These sites make it possible and more convenient for parents to ask questions and voice concerns without having to meet face-to-face. c. Social network sites have adverse effects Dr. Himanshu Tyagi forwarded the idea that sites like Facebook and MySpace could be harmful for the young people that frequent them. According to him, the problem is that when teens begin to live their lives actively online, they may begin to put less value on their own “real” lives.

15

Social networking in the middle and high school and even college can become a detriment to education. Attention and popularity is the most important for which most of them tend to misuse social networking sites and use them for socializing and meeting new people instead of using it for educational purposes. It tends to become a distraction to these kids; they tend to pay more attention to these sites instead of the teachers.

Not only do social networking sites affect one’s academic performance negatively, they are also causes of damage in a student’s chance of being successful in the future.

Tim Pychyl, an associate professor of psychology at Carleton University, says the problem with using Facebook and other commercial social networking tools goes beyond the privacy concerns. He argues that while discussion groups, chat, blogs, and email can be valuable tools in the classroom, using commercial products such as Facebook and Twitter can lead to distraction and procrastination. Because these social networking tools can be used to follow friends and celebrities, view pictures, chat and play games, they can create problems in the classroom.

The National School Boards Association (USA) in partnership with research firm Grunwald Associates LLC and the support of Microsoft, Newscorp and Verizon has just published a data-rich survey dissecting social and education related activity patterns by American students. In about 1 in 5 (22%) of all students surveyed, and about one in three tens (31 %) are nonconformists, students who report breaking one or more online safety and behaviour rules, such as using inappropriate 16

language, posting inappropriate pictures, sharing personal information with strangers of pretending to be someone they are not.

These nonconformists are significantly heavier users of social networking sites than other students, participating in every single type of social networking activity surveyed (28 in all) significantly more frequently than other students both at home and at school-which likely means that they break school rules to do so.

B. Online Gaming

The existence of games as a source of interaction and individual stimulation have always been linked to the technological availability of the time and place. With the transition to a information-based society, computers and computer games have evolved from monstrous room-sized computing machines to complex multi-use personal computers. Much has been improved from the first computer in game in 1962 called the Space War to the MMOPRG (Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Games) which was introduced in 1997 and is taking up everyone by storm. In MMOPR, countless number of people can interact and work together to create a massive virtual representation of reality. This increase in virtual worlds have been found out to instigate social interaction and communication.

Online gaming provides emotional escape and relief from high intervals of stress and social interaction. Since college students continue to actively meet an endless array of deadlines, stress becomes an innate aspect of college life. With the 17

simultaneous exposure of an intense social atmosphere, many students are fearful to expose themselves as shy and vulnerable human beings. The games allow people to protect themselves from the real world, both socially and emotionally, while stimulating excitement. Thus, online gaming is a source of addiction.

It is important to stress that many people focus on the negative effects of these games and fail to see the opportunity for learning and growth. According to Raise Smart Kids: “The Good and Bad Effects of Video Games” there are several positive effects that come from spending time playing video games. Most games do not teach kids math, history and other subjects, however, they do provide students indirect opportunities to learn principles that can help them in their academic pursuits. Certain types of video games can help train kids to follow instructions as well as help them develop their problem solving and logical thought processes. These skills translate directly to the classroom as students are asked by teachers to complete tasks and are presented problems that require them to use logical problem solving skills. Kids can also learn inductive reasoning and hypothesis testing.

Excessive

computer

game

playing

can

wreck

player’s

academic

performances, along with exacting steep tolls on their personal relationships. Psychotherapist Hilarie Cash notes playing computer games can cause the brain to increase the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that stimulates pleasure. Excessive game playing conditions players to keep playing for the dopamine rush, prompting these players to neglect all other aspects of their lives. Richard Ries, a psychology professor at the University of Washington cautions that not enough 18

studies have been conducted on intensive playing to classify this behaviour as an addiction, noting the medical profession tends to view excessive computer gaming as compulsive behaviour.

In a 2008 bulletin for the American Medical Association, Dr. Ronald M. Davis cited a Swiss study which found that every hour children spent playing on computer games each day, the risk of obesity doubled. In addition to the effects of prolonged sedentary activity, KidsHealth notes many computer games require repeated motions from players that puts stress on joints, tendons and muscles, increasing their risk for suffering reprtitive stress injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome and tendinitis.

In their paper "Working with Gamers: Implications for

Counselors," Gerra W. Perkins and her co-authors note that computers games' flashing images can trigger epileptic seizures, even in players with no prior history of convulsions.

The effects of violent games on players' behavior remains a controversial topic among researchers. Writing in "Review of General Psychology," Christopher J. Ferguson, Ph.D., noted that despite initial concerns over violent computer games, researchers found children who grew up with video gaming didn't exhibit increased aggression as a whole. Patrick Markey, Ph.D., cautions that violent games tend to exacerbate aggressive tendencies in players with specific personality traits. Using the Five-Factor Model of personality, Markey found that players who scored low in agreeableness and conscientiousness, while registering high levels of neurosis, were likely to exhibit increased aggression after playing games which rewarded violent behavior. Dr. L. Rowell Huesmann of the University of Michigan postulates 19

that violent computer games can affect children more subtly, desensitizing them to violence over time and influencing them to believe violence is an acceptable problem-solving method.

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games often require substantial time commitments from players to develop alter egos and progress through openended game worlds. Many players join guilds, collectives of players within a game, and the relationships players develop online can take precedence over their realworld relationships and obligations. Cash notes young players may devote themselves so much to playing they neglect coursework, sabotaging their academic careers and job prospects.

C. Performance

On the point of academic performance or excellence, Tuckman (1975) said that performance is used to label the observable manifestation of knowledge, skills, concepts, understanding and ideas. Thereby, performance is the application of a learning product that at the end of the process provides mastery. It is the acquisition of particular grades on examinations indicates candidates’ ability, mastery of the content, skills in applying learned knowledge to particular situations. A student’s success is generally judged on examination performance. Wiseman (1961) added that success on examinations is a crucial indicator that a student has benefited from a course of study. 20

In schools and other educational institutions, success is measured by academic performance, or how well a student meets standards set out by local government and the institution itself. As career competition grows ever fiercer in the working world, the importance of students doing well in school has caught the attention of parents, legislators and government education departments alike.

Therefore, when the term “low” is integrated with “academic performance”, it is the inability to acquire particular grades on examinations that indicated the individual’s mastery of the content, and skills in applying learned knowledge to specific circumstances.

I.

METHODOLOGY

Research Design

The research is a descriptive study to gauge the relationship between social networking sites and online gaming to academic performance of 2 nd year BS Nursing Students in RTRMF, 2011. The study is interested to determine what is the effect of those two variables to the grades of students. This study utilized standardized 21

testing instrument, which was administered to respondents. Statistical tool has been applied to check the dependency of one condition to the other.

Research Environment

This study was conducted at Remedios Trinidad Romualdez Medical Foundation (RTRMF) located at Tacloban City. RTRMF is a tertiary school which specializes in courses related to medical and health science, particularly BS Research Environment, BS Medical Technology, BS Physical Therapy, BS Medicine and BS Nursing. The school is a non-stock, non-profit and non-sectarian institution which was established in 1980 with the primary aim of solving the shortage of doctors in Eastern Visayas and to make medical education accessible to students in the region. The school was chosen as the setting of the study for its advantage in terms of accessibility and familiarity with the environment and the respondents.

Research Instrument

A survey was developed containing three sections of closed response (e.g yes/no and Likert-type scaling) and open-responsive items. Section 1 of the instrument asked respondents to provide demographic information (e.g name, course, age, sex). Section 2 invited students to provide academic information (GWA, number of hours spent studying, extracurricular activities). Section 3 asked about 22

computer and Internet usage (number of hours spent in the internet for social network sites, and number of hours spent in the internet for computer games, social network sites they visit, type of computer games they play). The fourth section solicited information related to students’ perceptions of the impact of social network sites on their own academic achievement. The fifth section gathered information on the students perceptions on the impact of online games to their own academic achievement. The test was administered for 10 minutes. We also interviewed the respondents as to specific questions in the survey.

Research Instrument Validation

Validity

evidence

for the

instrument was

provided

by

reviewing

the

questionnaire for the following: (1) Clarity in wording, (2) relevance of the items, (3) use of standard English, (4) absence of biased words and phrases, (5) formatting of items, and (6) clarity of the instructions (Fowler, 2002). The team members used these guidelines to review the instrument. Based on their comments, the instrument was revised prior to administration.

Research Locale

The study will be conducted at RTRMF Tacloban City, with its concern on 2nd year BS Nursing students.

23

Respondent

Sixty students from the different section of 2nd year BS Nursing enrolled at RTRMF during 1st semester AY 2011-2012 will be the respondents of the study. These respondents are composed of various individuals who differ in age, sex, preferences, social status and the likes will be randomly chosen from the sections comprising the 2nd year level.

Data Gathering Procedure Respondents were recruited by visiting classes and asking for volunteers to complete surveys in the 2nd semester of 2011-2012. Permission from instructors was obtained prior to visiting the classes. The sampling method began as a convenience sample, which eventually developed into snowball sampling as students began referring their friends who were willing to be respondents of the study. A script to introduce the study, explain the consent process and recruit respondents was followed. A description of the instructions was also included at the top of the study, as well as an introduction of the group. The survey took approximately 15-20 minutes to complete. Students completed and returned the survey at the time of recruitment.

Statistical Analysis

Data analysis was both quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative data (means, standard deviations, frequencies, percentages) were analyzed. Aside from 24

basic descriptive analyses, the main analytic technique implemented was an analysis of variance (ANOVA) which was used to examine the relationship between use of social networking sites and online gaming to academic performance.

II.

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

I.

Demographic Profile 25

Table 1.1 Distribution of Respondents by Sex Sex

Frequency

Percentage

Male

12

20%

Female

48

80%

TOTAL

60

100%

The results in Table 1.1 shows the distribution of sex of the respondents. Results show that among the 60 respondents, 80% are female, while the remaining 20% are male. The disparity in the equal distribution of gender can have an effect on the results of the study. Table 1.2 Distribution of Respondents by Age Age

Frequency

Percentage

16-17

15

25%

18-19

33

55%

20-above

12

20%

TOTAL

60

100

Shown in Table 1.2 is the Distribution of Respondents by Age. Since the respondents came from a class of 2nd year nursing students, another way to describe them would be to group them by age. Based on the results, majority of our respondents are aged from 18-19, followed by 20-above age group. The mean and mode age is 18.

II.

Academic Information 26

Table 2 :GWA for 1st Semester of the Respondents GWA

Frequency

Percentage

1.6-2.0

9

15%

2.1-2.5

27

45%

2.6-3.0

24

40%

TOTAL

60

100%

One of the variables of the study was the academic performance of the students. This is a constant factor that will be the basis of determining if their gaming and social networking pattern has an impact on their grades. For purposes of this research, we shall use the General Weighted Average for 1st semester of our respondents. The highest GWA is 1.96, while the lowest is 2.89. The mean GWA of our respondents is 2.380. The results show that 45% of our respondents’ GWA fall within the 2.1 to 2.5 range. The other 40% belonged to the 2.6 to 3.0 range, while the remaining 15% form part of the 1.6-2.0 range. It should be stressed however that there could be other factors which could have affected the GWA of the students which includes study habits, the technicality of the course, pressures from family/peer and others. Figure 1: How many hours do you spend studying in a day?

As part of the academic information of the respondents, we asked as to how long they study in a day. Majority of them 58% said they spend 2-4 hours of 27

study in a day while 42% said consume 1 hour of study. None of them respond that they study 5 hours and beyond.

The research also inquired on extra-curricular activities the respondents were involved in. Results are presented in Figure 2. The majority of the are involved in sports, followed by literature, club and theatre arts. Only 10% claim not to be involved in any extra-curricular activities. Those belonging to this group said they felt pressured by their lessons thus they need to focus on their studies. The others said playing online games is the only thing that takes up their time when they are not studying. We talked to those who are involved in extra-curricular activities and they said that it is important for them to have a life outside social networking sites so they can update their status with whatever it is that is happening in their daily lives.

III.

Assessment of the Gaming Behaviour

Table 3.1 Time Spent on Online Gaming (per day) of the Respondents Time

Spent

on

Frequency

Percentage

1 minute-1 hour

44

73%

2-5 hours

11

18%

5-9 hours

5

8%

10 hours-beyond

0

0

TOTAL

60

100%

Online Gaming

28

In order to establish the pattern of online gaming behaviour, we asked the respondents how long do they usually engage in online gaming on a daily basis. Results of the study showed that 73% said that they spend up to an hour of online gaming daily, while 18% claimed that they can go from 2-5 hours of online playing each day. Notably, 8% are heavy online gamers. However, it is essential to note that the said figure is only a modest estimate of their game time in a day. Some students said they play up to 8 hours especially on a weekend. But on weekdays, they only devote 1-2 hours to play. Among those who said they play 5-9 hours, they said that they only play at night-time but they still attend their classes. Those who were engaged in online games were observed to be thrill seekers. They play computer games because they are after the friendly competition they have with their peers, and the challenge and excitement of winning. However, there were some who claimed they have moved out of their heavy online gaming habit. One of them said “ I was into heavy gaming in high school but when I entered college my priorities changed. My course (BS Nursing) is a demanding course that requires lots of time to study and attend to school requirements.”

Table 3.2 Type of Computer Games Played Type of Computer Games Played

Frequency

Percentage 29

Facebook Games

29

48%

MMORPG

4

6.67%

First-person shooter games

8

13%

Adult/gambling/erot ic games

0

0

Puzzle/strategy games

10

16.67%

Racing/stimulation games

3

5%

*Facebook games & MMORPG

4

6.67%

*Facebook games,MMORPG & shooter games

2

3%

TOTAL

60

100%

Playing online gaming is a widely-used leisure activity by students, male and female alike. We wanted to determine what type of online games our respondents are addicted to and how certain students perceive each game genre. As shown in Table 2.2, majority of the respondents are into Facebook games. The social networking sites known as Facebook features more than a way to connect with friends-it is also known for a myriad of activities and Facebook games for various age groups. It offers simulation games, card games and board games. Cityville and Farmville, are the most popular Facebook games. These features a wide array of virtual world application, similar to simulation games. Users are into these games due to great graphics and a low yearning curve. The results show that 48% of the population are engaged in Facebook games.

30

A female respondent said although she does not play Farmville for an hour or more, she visits her farm multiple times daily. She said she like the game because it puts her in a virtual world she can brag and compare with her friends. Puzzle/strategy games make up for 16.67% of our respondents. The most common one are online Sudoku and Tetris. These type of games stimulate the mind by presenting challenges and puzzles to the player. Students dig this game type because it keeps the mind active and alert. Others claim these games are relaxing and soothing. First-person shooter games are also popular among our respondents, as 13% of them are into this genre. The most common shooter games are Counterstrike, Special Force and Call of Duty. Respondents say they prefer shooter games because they are easy to understand and to play. It gives them a high entertainment value. Five percent of the population prefer racing games respectively. Racing games are those in which a player partake in a racing competition with any type of land, air or sea vehicles. One of the most common racing game is Gran Turismo. The remaining 6.67% are into MMORPG. This is another genre of computer game, where the players role play animated characters while interacting with many other users online simultaneously. The World of Warcraft (WOW) is one of the more famous MMORPG games due to its widespread popularity. One of the respondents said, “Many people perceive it as an addicting game which leads to lack of sleep and poor health. For me, playing Warcraft gives me greater enjoyment and sense of reward from the game.”

31

An interesting response came out of the survey and thus we were forced to make two additional categories. 6.67 percent of the population said they play both Facebook games and MMORPG while 3% play Facebook games, MMORPG and shooter games altogether. In summary, majority of the respondents are average online gamers who prefer Facebook games. They log-in to their Facebook account both to check their status updates and play games. One respondent says she only spend a few minutes on the site, but she checks it frequently. Collectively, she could have spent a lot of time in it. Not one of the respondent said that they are into adult, gambling or any erotic game. They said that is only for mature audience and that they perceive themselves to be too young to engage in such.

To determine the behaviour of the respondents, the researcher asked if they are more inclined to surf the internet for schoolwork or to play online games. The results are presented in Figure 3:Which do you do more, surf the net for schoolwork or play computer games? Results showed that 60% of the students would rather play games with the computer rather than use it for school-related activities. One respondent offered an explanation, “We use the computer to relax and entertain, but rarely for schoolwork. Most of our lessons are in the textbook anyway, so if I would want to study, I would just read my books rather than surf the 32

net for schoolwork. I would not be able to resist playing online games and that would just divide my time and attention.” However, the remaining 40% who answered that they would rather surf the net for schoolwork says they use the internet to gain additional information on their lessons. They say some medical terms require further reading and the internet has a huge library for them to research on. Still, the results show that students are more inclined to play online games than do research on the internet. The researchers were interested to get the perception of the respondents as to whether online gaming affect their academic performance negatively. Figure 4 showed that majority of the students claim that online gaming has no adverse effect on their performance. These students claim that they are in control of their studies and their gaming behaviour. One respondent even added, “It will only affect your grades negatively if you let it be. Discipline and time management is very important. On hectic schedules and on examinations, I refrain myself from playing.” Those in the 30% who attest that online gaming has affected their academic performance negatively said that it is because their attention and their time for their studies has been divided.

In another situational question, the respondents were asked if they have experienced circumstances where they play computer games when they are supposed to be studying. Figure 5 presents the results where 60% of the students said Yes. 33

“It is hard to focus on studies when you keep thinking about your character or your farm. It’s so tempting to just sit beside the computer and play,” confirmed one respondent. The remaining 40% suggested that it is only a matter of priority setting. Though they admit to have the urge play, they said they try to resist it.

As for the question, “Compare your grades before you have become engaged in computer games and after you have become involved. Do you see a drop in academic performance?”, and as shown in Figure 6, most of the students responded No. These respondents believe that playing computer games does not have significant effect to their studies, and as further mentioned, if there is a decrease in their academic performance, it could be due to other factors, but not solely because of online gaming. For the remaining 30% who said that involvement in computer games have resulted to a drop in academic performance, they attributed this cause to poor time management and lack of priority setting on their part, mainly because they were engrossed in computer games.

The respondents were asked their insight as to whether they think they are addicted to online games. The results were astonishing. As presented in Figure 7, 80% of the respondents say they perceive themselves not addicted to online games. One respondent said, “I may play a lot of Facebook games but it is only for fun. So far, I have not yet neglected any of my school obligations because 34

of it. “ Wikipedia defines computer addiction as excessive use of computers to the extent that it interferes with daily life. Excessive use may explain problems in social interaction, mood, personality, work ethic, relationship, thought processes, or sleep deprivation. Whereas, only 20% said they believe they are already addicted to computer games. A male respondent offered an explanation. He said, “I think I am addicted to computer and online games because I play it every day and I think I cannot live without it. “

As for the question, “Do you think your time for studying is reduced because of the time you spent for online gaming?”, we got mixed response, as 52% claimed that their time for studying has indeed been reduced while the remaining 48% says the opposite. Among the 52% of respondents who said their time for study has been reduced also reported that playing games has caused them to stay up late and get less sleep. Those who said their time for studying has been reduced further stressed that although their time for studies has been reduced, their grades have not been affected.

35

IV.

Assessment of Social Networking Pattern

Socializing via the Internet has become an important part of young adult life. Related literature shows that adolescents and young adults are the heaviest computer and internet users, primary using it social network sites. The research looked into the behaviour of the respondent in terms of Internet use for social network sites.

Table 4.1 Time Spent on Social Networking Sites of Respondents Time Spent on Social Networking Sites

Frequency

Percentage

1 minute-1 hour

46

76.67%

2-5 hours

11

18%

5-9 hours

3

5%

10 hours-beyond

0

0

TOTAL

60

100%

The researchers were interested to know the time spent on social networking sites of our respondents. Youth and students use social networking sites as a means of interaction, socializing and for purely entertainment purposes.

36

Table 3.1 presents the results. Majority of the respondents or 76.67% consume an average of one hour internet usage on social networking sites per day while 18% extend up to 5 hours. The remaining 5% are heavy users of social networking sites. One respondent said that she frequently checks her social networking account to check for any updates. According to Facebook statistics, an average Facebook user spends more than 55 minutes a day on the site, thus most of our respondents fall under the average user group. As evidenced above, social network sites is undoubtedly a popular time-consuming activity for most of our respondents.

Table 4.2 Type of Social Networking Sites Frequently Visited Social Networking Sites

Frequency

Percentage

Facebook

55

91.67%

Twitter

1

1.67%

Others

4

6.67%

TOTAL

60

100%

Social networking sites are being patronized for increasing connection between strangers and friends, and the other features it offers. The most common social networking site is Facebook, with 91.67% of our population are users of this site. The site was created by Mark Zuckerberg to help residential college and university students identify students in other residence halls. It is described as an online directory that connects people to social networks at

37

colleges and universities. Currently, there are more than 350 million active users of the site. Meanwhile, the remaining 6.67% are into other social networking sites not specified in the survey, while 1.67% is into Twitter. One respondent confessed, “Browsing through my Facebook account is very entertaining. You would not notice that time has passed by. I update my status from time to time, check on my friend’s updates and chat with my online friends. It is a great way to relax.”

In reference to the discussion above in computer games, we also asked the students if they are more inclined to use the internet for school work or for entertainment. As presented in Figure 9, 60% of the students said they use it for social network sites while only 40% claim to use it for school work. One student shared, “Actually, I do both. I do my research on the internet for school and check into my Facebook account at the same time. I have practiced the habit of multitasking. In that way, I can do two things at a time.” Related studies define multi-tasking as the simultaneous execution of two or more processing activities at the same time. The current generation has through practice developed the ability to quickly switch between different tasks or different media. However, this does not mean that

38

We also asked the respondents their perception as to whether they think social networking sites affect academic performance. The results show that 52% of the respondents said that being hooked to social networking sites affected their performance negatively. In addition, these students reported that they feel not being in complete control of their Internet use and that it has hurt their time for schoolwork. They said they have spent more hours online than necessary and that they are more likely to stay up late and get less sleep. Meanwhile, 46% percent said that social networking site has no effect on their academic performance. These students claim that leisure and study are two different activities and they are in total control of the time they devote for the two activities. During interviews, participants reported they keep the website open in a browser almost all of the time they are using the computer to study. They said they would sometimes take a peek on the site just to check if there are new updates but they would immediately go back to studying after. For this students, the use of Facebook and other sites is not a separate activity, but rather, something that the students carry our while studying or during lectures.

The research also wanted to know if students can maintain their addiction to social network sites. Thus, we asked, “Do you find it hard to concentrate on schoolwork knowing that you can log in to your Facebook account?” and the results are interpreted in Figure 11. Based on the graph, 76% said that they have no problem maintaining their focus on their studies even if they know that they can visit Facebook if they want to. These students introduced to us the concept of multi-tasking. They reported that they check Facebook and study at the same 39

time without losing their focus or feeling interrupted. One student said, “I enjoy this kind of scheme because I do not feel burdened with my lessons if I can check Facebook once in awhile while I am reading my book.” Another student shed light, “If I am cramming for an exam or a deadline, I see to it that I do not get disturbed by Facebook.” The remaining 24% said that if they would not be able to open Facebook, they would not feel at ease that is why they have made a compromise with themselves that they will open the site but they will still study.

Another survey question on social network site was: “Compare your grades before you become engaged in social networking sites and after you became involved. Did you see a drop in your academic performance? (Please consider even the slightest bit of slip).” The responses of the students were analyzed and presented in Figure 12. As shown, 66% of the student maintained that engaging in Facebook and other social network site has not affected their grades in anyway, while only 34% claimed that their grades have lowered due to social network sites.

The researchers asked the respondents if they think they are addicted to social networking sites. The results are interpreted in Fig. 9: Do you 40

think you are addicted to social networking sites. Majority of the students or 68% (34) responded No while only 32 (16%) responded Yes. A respondent shared her thought, “Although we frequently log-in to social networking sites, we still do not think our behaviour is addictive. We think of Facebook only as a way to spend our leisure time, but we still prioritize our studies and school projects over it.” It can therefore be implied that social networking sites are only addictive to people who cannot control themselves into constantly using these sites, prioritize entertainment over schoolwork and gives too much attention to social acceptance and affiliation. Another respondent added, “My Facebook status is important to me, but my relationships with my friends and family are more essential. I try to spend more time with them than by going online. Besides, what can I put into my account if I do not have a social life outside of Facebook?” In the same light, it is interesting to note that the respondents value interpersonal relationships and face-to-face conversations over their connections in the internet.

Figure 10 presents the student’s response to the question “Do you think your time for studying is reduced because of the time you spent logging in to social networking sites?”. The results show that 54% (27) of the students perceive that their time for studying has been reduced due to engagement to social networking sites, while

46% (23) think otherwise. We therefore conclude that time

management is very important. Social networking sites can only affect academic 41

performance adversely if the students’ excessively engage in such activities instead of managing his/her time wisely. Such that, according to the result of this research, 100% of Facebook users accessed their account daily, usually checking it several times to see if they had received new messages and updates from their friends and other contacts, or to play online games. The amount of time spent on Facebook at each log-in varied only from just a few minutes to more than an hour. The time devoted into checking their accounts is taken from the time for studying. This decline on the studying hours of a student may result to poorer performances in exams, recitations, class discussions and other academic activities. The time which could be spent reading, studying, taking rests are spent playing, gaming, chatting, socializing and keeping up with friends which may be done after they have finished their school requirements. This shows that a lot of students have difficulty in prioritizing the most important things. In the same manner, students also show the act of procrastination and cramming because of social networking sites that exist in the present day. We talked to our respondents and found out that the everyday habit of procrastination and regular cramming of homeworks and studying of lessons have been the most tremendous factor of acquiring substandard scores, the cause of which is the excessive usage of social networking sites. Table 5: Analysis of Variance Source of variation

DF

SS

MS

F

P

Interpretati on

Decision

Factor

2

0.036

0.018

0.31538