Background:

With in-person instruction, many undergraduates look at screens during lectures. Because screens can distract, attempts to curb this behavior through screen policies are increasingly common but understudied.

Objective and Method:

Two quasi-experimental studies (Study 1: N = 412; Study 2: N = 179) in the same Psychology class explore results of restricting screens to one area of the classroom on exam performance and instructor/course evaluation.

Results:

In both studies, these policies improved exam scores in the class. In Study 2, students who chose to sit in the screen-free zone did better on exams. Limiting screen use to the back of the classroom (Study 1) produced student pushback in qualitative comments and lower evaluations in quantitative instructor and course ratings. In contrast, placing screen and screen-free zones side-by-side (Study 2) was accepted without comment by students.

Conclusion:

Together, these studies suggest that creating screen-free zones in classrooms can be beneficial for students, especially for those students who choose to sit in the screen-free section. Additionally, students accept side-by-side division of a classroom into screen and screen-free zones.

Teaching Implications:

Because these studies are ecologically valid, results have implications for how students take notes and how instructors set restrictions on screens in their classroom.

中文翻译：

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本科心理学课堂中无屏幕区的影响：评估两个准实验中的考试表现和教师评价

背景：

通过面对面教学，许多本科生在讲座期间会看屏幕。由于屏幕会分散注意力，因此通过屏幕策略来遏制这种行为的尝试越来越普遍，但尚未得到充分研究。

目的与方法：

同一心理学课程中的两项准实验研究（研究 1：N = 412；研究 2：N = 179）探讨了将屏幕限制在课堂一个区域的考试表现和教师/课程评估的结果。

结果：

在这两项研究中，这些政策提高了班级的考试成绩。在研究 2 中，选择坐在无屏幕区的学生在考试中表现更好。将屏幕使用限制在教室后面（研究 1）会导致学生在定性评论中退缩，并降低定量教师和课程评级的评价。相比之下，学生接受并排放置屏幕和无屏幕区域（研究 2）而没有评论。

结论：

总之，这些研究表明，在教室中创建无屏幕区域对学生有益，尤其是对于那些选择坐在无屏幕区域的学生。此外，学生接受将教室并排划分为屏幕和无屏幕区域。

教学意义：

由于这些研究在生态上是有效的，因此结果对学生记笔记的方式以及教师如何设置课堂屏幕限制具有重要意义。