Multitasking in class- beware!

Hey everyone!

My name is Bijal and I’m a coach in the AAC. I’m a junior and a biology major. When taking classes that I’m not too interested in, I find myself texting, facebooking, and daydreaming while taking notes. And I’m not the only one. It’s undeniable that multitasking in class is prevalent across campus. At the beginning of every semester, I have to fight off the temptation to multitask in class. Luckily, it’s still the beginning of the semester and it’s a great time to break your bad habits in class.

It may seem hard to give up texting and surfing the internet in class. After all, we grew up with technology surrounding us. I started using e-mail and AIM in middle school, went through the blogging-myspace-facebook phases in high school, and now I’m a text freak. I text when I’m walking to class, watching TV, even when I’m talking to another friend. Multitasking is a part of my life, and probably a part of yours. But it’s a different story in class.

A study by Dux et al. (2006) explains that the brain tricks us into thinking we are doing multiple things at once, when we are really not.