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Abstract
ABSTRACTSmartphones have become the most popular device utilized by college students in their classrooms due to their mobility and computer capabilities (Tamayo et al., 2024). Studies focus on the disruptive nature associated with smartphones (Das & Ahmed, 2023), but few investigate why college students continue to use smartphones in class when they perceive smartphones to be disruptive. The purpose of this qualitative interview study is to contribute to this area of research and better understand how an undergraduate university student perceives the use of smartphones in college classrooms.
A semi-structured interview was used with ten participants to better understand two key research questions: (1) How do undergraduate university students perceive the use of smartphones in a face-to-face college classroom? (2) What experiences and behaviors motivate undergraduate university students to use their smartphones in a face-to-face college classroom? Predetermined codes from the determinants of the Unified Theory of Technology Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (Venkatesh et al., 2012) were used deductively to identify codes from participant responses, and data emerged inductively.
Codes that were identified from the determinants of UTAUT2 include: (1) usefulness, (2) ease of use, (3) social factors and influences, (4) external motivations, (5) facilitating conditions – perceived control, (6) habits, and (7) hedonistic motivations. Codes identified inductively include: (1) class size, (2) teaching methods, (3) distractions, (4) self-regulation, (5) boredom, (6) respect for teachers, (7) accountability and responsibility, and (8) smartphone policy. The significant outcome of coding revealed a central theme of class sizes.
Findings from this study indicated participants perceived they formed habits toward smartphone use in their daily lives which crossed into classrooms. Participants acknowledged they will use their smartphones in class when they get bored from disengaged teaching methods, and when conditions were favorable for use without being noticed. Participants agreed they self-regulate smartphone use when teaching methods were engaging and conditions were unfavorable to use smartphones without being noticed. Class size emerged as the central theme where all participants described usage in large, auditorium style classrooms compared to restricting use in small, more intimate classrooms where students formed closer, more personal relationships with teachers. As for smartphone policies, the general perception of all participants was they prefer smartphone use in college classrooms to be discouraged and not banned. INDEX WORDS: Undergraduate University Classrooms, College Students, Smartphone Usage, Lived Experiences, Academic Purposes, Non-academic Purposes, Educational Technology, Higher Education Policies, Qualitative Research, Qualitative Interview