COMBINING BACKGROUND MEDIA WITH DOING HOMEWORK - INCIDENCE OF BACKGROUND MEDIA USE AND PERCEIVED EFFECTS

A survey study was conducted to explore the frequency with which stude nts use background media in self-instructional home study settings, an d the perceived effects of students' use of background media on their homework performance. A questionnaire administered to 1,700 students i n Grades 8 and 10 asked students to indicate how often they perform di fferent types of homework assignments and how often they incorporate d ifferent types of background media while doing them. In addition, stud ents indicated how they divide their attention between homework assign ments and background media, and how they perceive the effects that med ia may have on their performance on different types of homework assign ments. Results indicated that the frequency with which students report edly combined homework and media depended on the type of schoolwork (l earning assignments versus paper-and-pencil assignments), type of back ground medium (audio media or TV), and the students' level of secondar y education. In general, students felt that their performance on learn ing assignments was impaired by the use of background media. Their per formance on paper-and-pencil assignments, however, was somewhat increa sed by the use of background audio media and music TV.