Conclusion And Implications Of Facebook Education Essay

This is a study of Facebook use and CGPA level among male and female students in University Tunku Abdul Rahman Kampar Campus. The topic which will be covered throughout this assignment is the “use of Facebook” and “CGPA level/ academic performance”.

We had designed 30 questions in survey form and were sent out to 30 students of different gender and different faculties in UTAR. Our study purpose was to find out how the use of Facebook can influence the role of students in their academic success. The independent variables measured how actively students used Facebook including how much time they spend on Facebook, how often they use Facebook per day and how much time they spend on academics (studying or doing homework). In order to accurately measure students’ academic achievement, we had student’s self-report their cumulative GPA points.

Through this assignment, we also study the gender differences in the relationship of use of Facebook and CGPA level. We had found that students with higher CGPA use Facebook at a lower rate and have less times using Facebook but longer time spending on studying than students with lower CGPA. On the other hand, we found that there is little or no gender differences between male and female students in UTAR Kampar Campus on Facebook use and CGPA level. Our study reported a negative relationship between Facebook use and CGPA level among male and female students in UTAR Kampar Campus. Generally, we can conclude that students in UTAR Kampar Campus use Facebook at very high rates.

Introduction

Among the wide variety of online tools, one of the largest social networking sites like Facebook was created in year 2004 by Harvard Sophomore student, Mark Zuckerberg (Kabre et al., 2011) have become so popular, especially among students that it reflected many other traditional features of society.

Facebook, a social networking service invented by an American computer programmer and Internet entrepreneur names Mark Elliot Zuckerberg along with his college roommates and fellow Harvard University students Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes on February 2004. It owned and operated by Facebook, Inc. and Zuckerberg is the chairman and chief executive. The website was originally and briefly called Facemash on October 23, 2003 when Zuckerberg launched Facemash.com (Zeevi, D., 2013). Membership to the website was at first restricted to Harvard College students, but was expanded to other colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and gradually most universities in Canada and the United States, corporations, and by September 2006, to everyone of age 13 and older with a valid email address (Bellis, M., 2013). On January 11, 2004 Zuckerberg registered thefacebook.com domain (Zeevi, D., 2013). By June 2004, Facebook received its first private investment from Peter Theil, the founder of PayPal, for $500,000 in exchange for 10.2% of the company. An angel investor, Sean Parker who was founder of Napster also became president then of the newly incorporated Facebook (Zeevi, D., 2013). The company changed the name from TheFacebook to just Facebook after purchasing the domain name facebook.com in 2005 for $200,000 (Bellis, M., 2013). In August 2009, Facebook acquired the real-time news aggregator site FriendFeed. In April of 2012, Facebook made a huge splash in the market by acquiring Instagram for approximately $1 billion dollars (Zeevi, D., 2013).

This is the research of its kind in UTAR focusing on the purpose of the Facebook usage and its possible impact on the students’ academic performance. The purpose of this study was to find out how Facebook use can influence academic performance of students in UTAR Kampar Campus, and explore students’ perception of how Facebook use can impacts their academic experience. Besides that, this study determine whether there is a gender difference of male and female students’ in the use of Facebook and CGPA level.

Background of the study

Nowadays, there are more than 500 million active users worldwide in Facebook social network. Facebook users share their status and pictures to keep in touch with family members, friends, previous school classmates and work mates. It creates new relationships and friendships or simply a way to unwind with one of the many Facebook applications that include games and quizzes (Ahsan et al., 2012). Therefore, the usage of Facebook can become a habit that may affect the student’s academic performance.

We used the perception of Facebook user, number of hours spent on Facebook and academic performance of UTAR students in this research. In light of these findings, we advance the following hypothesis:

H1: The higher the CGPA level of students in UTAR Kampar Campus, the lower the use of Facebook.

H2: Female students in UTAR Kampar Campus achieve a higher CGPA level and lower usage of Facebook than male students in UTAR Kampar Campus.

Literature Review

In the past decade, Social Network Sides (SNS) such as MySpace, Facebook, Classmates.com and Live Journal have made a reality that has changed the way social networks are maintained and created the past decade. Millions of Internet savvy patrons log on to interact with their spouse, friends, children, colleague, business associates, and even strangers in a virtual reality that is void of typical nonverbal responses which allow for message modification. Social networking seems to be making friends that exist solely on the computer. Born in the 1980s and 1990s, they spend their days immersed in a “media diet” accumulating a fulltime job plus overtime devouring entertainment, communication, and every form of electronic media. They were born surrounded by technology and with every passing year they add more tools to their electronic repertoire. They live in social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, and Second Life gathering friends; they text more than they talk on the phone; and they Twitter the night away often sleeping with their cell phones vibrating by their sides.

Facebook is the number two site in the world, with over 350 million users according to Facebook.com. College students around the globe log in daily to keep tabs on their social network of friends, make appointments, send emails, make new friends, and keep others posted on their daily life adventures (Rosen, 2007). The frequent use of Facebook brought an addiction toward the site and simultaneously influent students’ daily life at large. With the advance technology in communication, social networks considered one of the most important tools used to keep in touch or share information with peers. Facebook has become so popular especially among students that without Facebook, student life is almost unthinkable (Debatin et al., 2009). Facebook seems to be a strong attraction for students to go online because the web support the motivations like self-discovery, social enhancement, and interpersonal connectivity for them to join the site.

Most SNS allow the individuals to present themselves for various purposes: political, college oriented, romantic relationship initiation, or shared interests. Social media networking has taken over the world. Social-networking is irresistible, we have it on our phones, laptops and most if not all television programmes interconnect with it. The curiosity into other peoples personal and social lives have created a massive social gathering on the World Wide Web. Therefore, an important question for educators is: how is technology affecting adolescents’ quality and quantity of sleep, their attention difficulties, and their academic performance? Since technology is such an integral part of most adolescents’ lives, it is important to understand the impact it has on their sleep, attention difficulties and academic achievement. The growth of technology has changed the world, which in turn has changed the daily lives of children and adolescents.

Adolescents increased use of technology has been accompanied by a decrease in the amount adolescents sleep and an increase in attention difficulties and poorer academic achievement. Although there seems to be a great deal of research indicating that technology (especially when used in excess) has detrimental effects on adolescents in a variety of domains, some research indicates that technology may positively affect adolescents. Research indicates that moderate Internet use can positively affect adolescents’ academic achievement, especially reading achievement (Jackson et al., 2006; Willoughby, 2008). The rise in social networking use from 2006 to 2009 is astounding and clearly people from all backgrounds are choosing the Internet and SNS over even the phone to manage their personal and business relationships. Personality traits, such as self-esteem, trust in people, satisfaction with university life, and racial identity, were not significant predictors on the time spent on Facebook.

Academic success is paramount issues to any student, with the pressure to belong to social networks. Researchers examining Facebook use from a media effects tradition have focused either on the social implications of the medium or on the potential risks that users of social networking sites may experience. They found that there were five motivation causes relate to the social networking use: information, social escapism, pass time, interactive control, and communication which affect user’s motivations towards the Facebook site and the relationship with Facebook addiction (Severin & Taknard, 2007). While CGPA seemed to be unaffected by use of Facebook and other recreational Internet sites, students’ survey responses indicate that online behaviors do impact the learning process. A majority of students believe online activities disturb them from studying, lead to procrastination, and displace time that would have otherwise been spent on academics. Results show that Facebook users reported having lower CGPAs and spend fewer hours per week studying than nonusers. More research is needed to determine whether Internet related interventions would help college students improve their ability to regulate online behavior and limit potentially nonproductive or excessive Internet use.

Methodology

Respondents

This study was adopts a quantitative research method by using survey method. We had prepared 30 copies of questionnaire for our survey and we used stratified sampling by dividing male and female into two strata. By using this method, 15 males and 15 females of UTAR students were randomly selected as a participants and the questionnaire were distributed to each of them. The design of the study required data to be collected from differences faculty of student such foundation studies, financial economics (FE), business admin (BA) and psychology studies. During the distribution of survey form, we ensured that the student who chosen is not involved in any activities so that they can answer carefully without any constrain. Furthermore, we distribute the questionnaire to the participants who are willing to answer the questionnaire to maximize the accuracy of their response. We manage to get back all the questionnaires we distributed.

Instrument

In our questionnaire, we divided into three sections which is section A, B and C. Section A aimed to collect demographic data such as gender, age, race, cumulative GPA and time spent on academics. On the other hand, section B consist 7 questions, which are questions about Facebook use of participants. For instance, questions about how much time spent on Facebook and how frequent of use of Facebook. Lastly, section C of our survey consists of 17 questions asking about students’ perception of their use of Facebook and how it impacts students academically. All questions from section C were constructed into interval scales of measurement. Five levels of ratings were provided and respondents were asked to circle the rating which represents their level of agreement to the provided statements; 1= Strongly Disagree, 2= Disagree, 3= Neutral 4= Agree and 5= Strongly Agree.

Procedure

Activities

Date and Time

– Discussion on survey’s topic

– Discussion on the methods to design questionnaire

– Proposed research question and hypothesis

Week: 3

Date: 30/01/2013

Time: 8.00pm-9.45pm

– Every group members searched for related journals and questionnaires at computer lab

– Searching continued at respective home

Week: 4

Date: 06/02/2013

Time: 2.30pm-4pm

– Discussion for selection of survey questions and design of questionnaires

-Leader assign task for written report and design of questionnaires

Week: 6

Date: 20/02/2013

Time: 7.30pm-9.45pm

– Proposed a draft of questionnaire items

– Printed 30 piece questionnaires

– Every members distribute questionnaires, with questionnaires each

– Data are keyed in and calculated using Microsoft Excel

Week : 7

Date: 26/02/2013, 27/02/2013

Time : 12pm-3pm

-Discussion of results obtained from survey

-Group leader assigned parts for written report

Week : 8

Date: 04/02/2013

Time: 10am- 12pm

– Compile every parts of written assignment

-Discussion on first draft of written assignment and problem sharing

Week : 9

Date: 11/03/2013

Time: 2pm-3.30pm

– Hand in written assignment during tutorial

– Discussion on coming presentation

Week : 10

Date: 22/03/2013

Results

30 students were invited to participate in our study and all of the participants completed the survey questionnaire of Facebook use and academic performance (response rate = 99.9%). The sample comprised 50% female and 50% male participants. The mean of age was 20.8 years and the range of ages was 18 to 24 years. For male, the mean age was 20.3 years while for female the mean age was 21.4 years.

Percentages of participant (n=30)

Average time spent on Facebook (hours)

Average frequency on using Facebook (times)

Average time spent on academic (hours)

Below 2.00

3.3

12

10

0.5

2.00-2.19

13.3

9.5

9.5

0.5

2.20-2.99

53.3

4.25

4.25

0.83

3.00-3.49

23.3

1.71

2.6

1.43

3.50 & above

6.7

1.5

2

3

Total

99.9

5.79

5.67

1.25

Table 1

Table 1 above shows the percentages of students CGPA level with 5 categories, which are CGPA from below 2.00 to 3.50 and above. Average time spent on Facebook of participants was 5.79 hours and 5.67 times using Facebook per day, while average time student spent on academic was 1.25 hours (75 minutes) per day.

Table 2

Table 2 shows the CGPA levels for both male and female participants. Female participant was reported a slightly higher CGPA level than male, which is 2.76 compare with 2.63. While, the average CGPA level was 2.69 (range = 1.08 to 4.00).

Table 3

Average hours and times of Facebook use per day

Male (n=15)

Female (n=15)

Hours spent on Facebook per day

5.00 hours

4.07 hours

Frequency of Facebook use per day

6.10 times

3.47 times

From Table 3 shown above, average scores for both hours spent on Facebook per day and frequency of using Facebook per day of participants is shown. Male participants were reported a higher number of hours spent on Facebook than female participants, which are 5 hours per day and 4.07 hours per day. Also, male participants use Facebook 6.10 times per day while female participants only use 3.47 times per day.

Table 4 below shows the percentages of both male and female participants’ time spent on studying and doing schoolwork. The average time spent of studying of male students was 0.93 hours (56 minutes) per day and for female students was 1.20 hours (72 minutes) per day.

Table 4

Percentages of Time Spent on Studying and Doing Schoolwork

Time spent per day

Participant

n

30min

1hr

2hrs

3hrs

4hrs

5hrs

6hrs

Male

15

26.7

46.7

20.0

6.7

–

–

–

Female

15

40.0

40.0

13.3

6.7

–

–

–

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to find out how Facebook use can influence CGPA level of students in UTAR Kampar Campus and explore the relationship between time spent on Facebook and time spent on academics (studying/ doing homework). Besides that, this study determine whether there is a gender difference of male and female students’ in the use of Facebook and CGPA level. However, our results show distinct with previous research that there were no significance relationship among CGPA and Facebook use. Moreover, CGPA obtained in our study was self-reported by the participants and no further prove of validities of the CGPA given. Finally, the survey included 2 Likert scale attitudinal questions which focus on Facebook use that impacts’ students’ academic performance only. Below are the research questions of our study:

How Facebook use can influence the CGPA level of students in UTAR Kampar Campus.

Is there a gender differences between male and female students in UTAR Kampar Campus on facebook use and CGPA level?

To answer the first research question,

Our results show that students with higher CGPA level reported a lower time spent on Facebook. Participants with CGPA higher than 3.50 and above (6.7%) spent an average of 3 hours per day studying or doing homework, while they spent only an average of 1.50 hours (90 minutes) on Facebook per day and using Facebook average 2 times per day. While participants with CGPA lower than 2.00 or below spent only an average of 0.5 hours (30 minutes) per day studying or doing homework, and an average of 12 hours per day spending on Facebook and average 10 times per day using Facebook. In short, we can say that students with higher CGPA use Facebook at a lower rate and have less times using Facebook but longer time spending on studying or doing homework than students with lower CGPA. Our result is similar with previous result, which shows that students who spend more time on academics also spend more time on the Internet for academic purposes, wait longer to check Facebook when they are studying, and spend less time on the Internet for fun (O’Brien, S. J., 2011). However, our result is different with a similar previous study of Facebook use and academic performance. According to (Boogart, 2006; Karpinski & Duberstein, 2009), Facebook users reported that it did not impact their academic performance and in fact Facebook was beneficial to their learning. The result claims that there is a negative relationship between Facebook use and grades, according to them.

To answer the second research question,

Our results shown that overall female students has slightly higher CGPA than male students, and female students reported to have lower time spent on Facebook and longer time spent on academics than male students. Female students spent an average of 1.2 hours (72 minutes) on academics and 4.07 hours spent on Facebook per day. On the other hand, male student was reported spent an average of 0.93 hours (55.8 minutes) on academics and an average of 5 hours spent on Facebook per day. As a result, female students only have a slightly higher achievement in academics with less time spending on Facebook; while male students who spend longer time on Facebook have a slightly lower achievement in academics comparing with female students. However, our study has shown difference with previous study that explored the gender differences in social network communication which was conducted by (Thompson, S. H., & Lougheed, E., 2012). According to this study, females were more likely than males to report spending more time on Facebook than intended and losing sleep because of Facebook. The result of this study was contradicts with our findings that males are reported to spend more time on Facebook than females.

Limitations and suggestions of the study

First of all, the number of responses collected was too few and insufficient for this research. There are only 15 male and 15 female students representing all the students in UTAR Kampar Campus which are very hard to generalize result to a larger population. However, this was the fastest the survey could be distributed to participants given in a short time. Besides that, we were limited to just sending the survey to certain faculties in UTAR Kampar Campus in such a short time, and if we’re given more we’re able to distribute the surveys to a greater number of students from each faculty in UTAR Kampar Campus. In that way, our result would be expecting to illustrate something more different or new.

We are suggesting a larger sample representing of both male and female students in UTAR Kampar Campus in order to generalize a more compete result regarding the title of our research. Also, CGPA of both male and female participants obtained in this study was self-reported and there is no reliable prove in this matter. Furthermore, research about how students can regulate their time spent on Facebook should be conduct in future in order to understand the way how students can reduce Facebook addiction more effectively.

Conclusion and implications of the study

Generally, male and female students in UTAR Kampar Campus use the Facebook at very high rates, which is an average of 4.54 hours per day compared with an average of 2 hours per day shown in the previous study. This is an essential significant finding in our study because we can understand how much time students put on surfing Facebook as well as time spending on academics. After knowing the rates of Facebook use of students in UTAR Kampar Campus, further studies aiming at understanding the reason or motives of students in UTAR Kampar Campus using Facebook should be conduct to resolve this high risk in relying on Facebook. There is a study conducted in Malaysia that aimed at identifying the relationship between female students’ motives for Facebook use and Facebook addiction (Sofiah S.Z., Omar, Bolong & Osman, 2011).

This study is also significant in order to understand how students in UTAR Kampar Campus use their time on Facebook and how it can affect their academic performance in school. If students spent too much time on Facebook, it is possible that they might get addicting on it. Further research on Facebook addiction level of students in UTAR Kampar Campus can be conduct with the use of the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS).

In short, we can conclude that students in UTAR Kampar Campus spent a great numbers of times on Facebook that impacts their CGPA level. Although there is no significant gender differences of participants in the use of Facebook, male student were reported spent more hours on Facebook which in turn lower their academic performance comparing with female students in UTAR Kampar Campus. It is important to note that using Facebook at a high rate might turns into addiction on it and brings many problems to students, for instance, self-esteem or social problems in life. Further research of the motives of students using Facebook, the reason of using Facebook at a high rate and the resolution of resolving high rate of using Facebook should be conduct in the future.