Works Consulted (APA)
Bain, M., & Hill, K. (2007, November 26). Words and Meaning. Newsweek, 60.
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.
Carr, N. (2008, July/August). Is Google Making us Stupid. Atlantic Monthly.
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, S. (2000). One Eye on Homework - the Other on E-mail, TV, Games. Christian Science
Monitor, 92(233), 16. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/
login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=3683877&site=pov-live
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, M. (2008). Outliers: The Story of Success. Retrieved from Kindle database.
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.
Patton, J. E., Stinard, T. A., & Routh, D. K. (1983, May/June). Where do Children Study? The
Journal of Educational Research, 76(5), 280-286. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/
stable/
27539988?&Search=yes&term=%22where+do+children+study%22&list=hide&searchUr
i=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3D%2522where%2Bdo%2Bchildren%2Bst
udy%2522%26gw%3Djtx%26prq%3Dwhere%2Bdo%2Bchildren%2Bstudy%26hp%3D2
5%26wc%3Don&item=1&ttl=8&returnArticleService=showArticle
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.
Raeburn, P. (2009, August 28). Multitasking May Not Mean Higher Productivity. In NPR
[Interview]. Retrieved January 21, 2010, from PBS website: 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.
Treasure, J. (Speaker). (2009, July). The 4 Ways Sound Effects Us [Audio podcast]. Retrieved
from 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, D. T. (2009). 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,
CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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.