First-year students used Facebook mainly for social purposes and only secondarily for informal student-to-student academic purposes, rarely for formal teaching.¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r1–r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2008 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Daily academic discussion use was rare (10 per cent) and staff contact rarer (1 per cent), compared with 23 per cent using it daily for social events. → Clare Madge 2008 q2 i? Nearly half of respondents used Facebook for some informal academic purpose weekly or more, but only 7 per cent had used it as a formal part of learning. → Clare Madge 2008 (2)

Evidence¶

Clare Madge 2008¶

Clare Madge, Julia Meek, Jane Wellens, Tristram Hooley. (2008). Facebook, social integration and informal learning at University: 'It is more for socialising and talking to friends about work than for actually doing work'. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439880902923606

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Survey of first-year Facebook users: "only 10 per cent of respondents used Facebook for discussing academic work with other students on a daily basis" and 1 per cent to contact staff, versus 23 per cent daily for social events.

"only 10 per cent of respondents used Facebook for discussing academic work with other students on a daily basis an d less (1 per cent) to contact University staff, in comparison to 23 per cent using it on a daily basis to find out about social even ts."

Clare Madge 2008 (2)¶

Clare Madge, Julia Meek, Jane Wellens, Tristram Hooley. (2008). Facebook, social integration and informal learning at University: 'It is more for socialising and talking to friends about work than for actually doing work'. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439880902923606

q2 · i? · associational · r1

Informal learning findings: "46 per cent of respondents stated that they used Facebook to informally discuss academic work with other students on a daily or weekly basis" and 22 per cent monthly, while only 7 per cent reported formal learning use.

"46 per cent of respondents stated that they used Facebook to informally discuss academic work with other students on a daily or weekly basis and 22 per cent on a monthly basis."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Facebook use in higher education is associated with increased teacher-student and student-student interaction — reports the opposite
• Facebook is used in myriad ways as an educational instrument for learning and teaching in higher education — a broader claim this one bears on
• Facebook acted as part of the 'social glue' helping first-year students settle into university life, though most students did not see it as crucial to overcoming loneliness. — related
• Students were generally opposed to tutors contacting them via Facebook for formal teaching, though a majority saw some role for departmental and module-level administrative uses. — related
• Student-generated Facebook groups constitute a hidden curriculum that supports learning outside the formal design studio — related
• Student-created Facebook groups support self-directed design learning and sharing of expertise outside the formal curriculum — related
• A quarter of first-year students reported their academic work was often or very often adversely affected by time spent on Facebook. — related
• Students re-purpose social networking tools like Facebook as course back-channels, and user characteristics correlate with reported propensity to collaborate — related