2Ls Crowned as the Worst Offenders in Non-Academic Laptop Use During Class
I’m glad that 3Ls’ reputations have been restored.
A study out of St. Louis University School of Law has found that 2Ls spend approximately 42 percent of their time off task in class. In comparison, 3Ls stayed on task 82 percent of the time!
From The National Journal:
Kim Novak Morse, associate director for writing support at Saint Louis University School of Law, has devoted her dissertation to the matter; she’s going for her doctorate in higher education at Saint Louis. She said she hoped to provide empirical data to better inform the debate about classroom laptops bans, since much of the previous research has been based on student surveys rather than classroom observation.
“All the debate between professors and students about laptop use in the classroom and whether to ban them was getting pretty hostile,” she said. ” I thought, ‘Before we ban the laptops, let’s get all the facts.’ ”
Morse and six research assistants spent one semester during 2010 monitoring how students attending five law classes used their computers, and how different teaching styles affected their use. They deployed software to keep tabs on what students did with their computers during class. (The students were informed that they were being observed for classroom participation, but did not know the researchers were focusing on their use of laptops).
It was widely assumed that 3Ls would be the worst offenders, Morse said — that an element of senioritis was at play. In fact, the 2Ls took the crown, spending 42 percent of their time off task. The figure for 1Ls was 35 percent and for 3Ls it was a relatively modest 28 percent. . . .
Morse, who has presented her findings at legal education conferences, suggested a number of ways for professors command attention:
• Offer big-picture summaries.
• Warn that certain material would make a good exam question.
• Present information in shorter increments.
• Break up lectures with questions and discussion.
You can read the full story here.
To me, these results make sense. 1Ls are terrified and use their laptops to ease the stress, 2Ls feel like they have a handle on law school and they can chill, and 3Ls are finally taking classes they are truly interested in.
What do you think about the results? Do they reflect what’s going on at your own law school?