Works Consulted (MLA)
Carr, Nicolas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid.” Atlantic Monthly July-Aug. 2008: n. pag. Print. I
used this article for a class I taught at Hopkins two summers ago - it was about literacy
and comprehension. Part of the problem with students today is that they are illiterate.
Scary, yes. In fact, here at Blake MAP-R and PSAT data show that 20% of the students
in the junior class (the class of 2011) are reading at the elementary school level - and
some of those students are sitting in AP and in honors classes. Simply doing work
doesn’t gain you knowledge, and this article explores some of the reasons for our
exceptionally high number of students reading below level. But, as Carr says, we
progress is nothing new, and if we’re going to make something of ourselves in the future,
we had better figure out how to work within the rather new world of clicking and instant
“answers.”
Cook, Stephanie. “One Eye on Homework - the Other on E-mail, TV, Games...” Christian
Science Monitor 92.233 (2000): 16. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 22 Jan. 2010.
<http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=3683877&site=povlive>. Great article specifically about students and their struggle with distractions like tv.
It supports my theory that students should spend more time studying and less time being
distracted, but it’s not exactly scientific. Lots of professors are cited, but it does not
present a study of any kind.
Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. New York: Little, Brown and Company,
2008. N. pag. Kindle Edition file. I just happen to be reading this book while writing this
paper, and while it’s not exactly about distractions and productivity, it does make a point
to say that success is a matter of hours logged and sustained attention. If students cannot
sustain attention, they are less likely to be successful in class or in life than students who
can. Gladwell uses many examples to illustrate this point, from The Beatles to the top
Hockey Players to wildly successful Lawyers.
Hand, Kevin, and Marc Bain. “Words and Meaning.” Newsweek 26 Nov. 2007: 60. Print. This
source is a graphic depicting the physiology of reading, or the brain’s process as it
decodes, translates, and comprehends information - starting with the eyes and ending in
the Occipital-temporal region of the brain. This last section of the brain is developed in
experienced readers, but it won’t have the chace to develop if it doesn’t focus on the
reading.
Nass, Clifford, Dr. “Multitasking May Not Mean Higher Productivity.” Interview by Paul
Raeburn. NPR. PBS, 28 Aug. 2009. Web. 22 Jan. 2010. <http://www.npr.org/templates/
story/story.php?storyId=112334449>. I’m not sure how helpful this will be in my paper,
but it definitely provides extra professorial support for the “One Eye on Homework”
article. This one allows listeners to call in and the Dr. will answer questions, which is
nice. Dr. Nass says that “[people will] do better because of all the studies showing that
multitasking impairs performance,” but still I have found no studies. I’m still looking for
these. Maybe I’ll try Lexus Nexus at the public library or at NIH.
Patton, James E., Thomas A. Stinard, and Donald K. Routh. “Where Do Children Study?” The
Journal of Educational Research 76.5 (1983): 280-286. JSTOR. Web. 22 Jan. 2010. <
http://www.jstor.org/stable/27539988 >. I finally found a study!! I don’t know if it’s
exactly what I need, but it’s definately a start. This study looks at elementary school
students through 9th grade. Since I’m writing about high school students, it might not
really be taken seriously. What I know now, though, is that there are studies that exist on
this very topic. It was hard to find - I had to refine every search to find what I needed.
Treasure, Julian. “The 4 Ways Sound Effects Us.” TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. Web. 20 Jan.
2010. <http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/
julian_treasure_the_4_ways_sound_affects_us.html>. This talk is the initial inspiration
for my research. I never would have thought that my gut feeling actually has research to
back it up. This talk discusses, among other things, the loss of productivity at work when
there are sounds making work difficult. It can only be concluded that the same is true for
homework.
Willingham, Daniel T. Why Don’t Students Like School? A cognitive scientist answers questions
about how the mind works and what it means for the classroom. San Francisco: John
Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009. Print. What an amazing book this is. It clarifies the use of
short and long term memory, and it helps me understand why distractions are so, well,
distracting...there’s no room in our short term memory to hold all that stuff! There just
isn’t. I’m glad a scientist finally made objective sense of this for me; I felt as though my
sources were biased until now.