The Impact of Social Media Usage on Academic Performance of Senior High

School STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Students

INTRODUCTION

Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the creation, sharing
and aggregation of content, such as ideas, interests, and other forms of
expression amongst virtual communities and networks. Social media
platforms allow users to have conversations, share information and create
web content. Social media has revolutionized communication by making it
easy to connect with people globally. Recent investigations of using social
media show that approximately 3 billion individuals worldwide are now
communicating via social media (Iwamoto & Chun, 2020). But social media
addiction has become a serious problem among students. An inquiry into the
relationship between social networking site use and primary school children’s
academic performance and cognition Kotsiou, A. (2021). Many students
spend hours on social media platforms, which affects their academic
performance. Notifications, likes, and comments can distract students from
their work, often resulting in procrastination and missed deadlines. This
influence students to become more and more lazy to do their homework and
other activities at school, because they tend to rely on social media that can
affect their self growth. Social media has the potentials of influencing
decision-making Rahmi (2021). Research indicates that students who
frequently check social media while studying likely to struggle with
concentration and production. Social media has made it easier for bullies to
harass and intimidate their victims. Cyberbullying can lead to depression,
anxiety, and even suicide. Social media can be a major distraction for
students. It can affect their concentration and make it difficult for them to
focus on their studies.

Social media is flooded with false information, which can be misleading for
students. They may end up believing in false information and make decisions
based on it. The internet and social media have become essential for the
modern generation, especially students. Social media greatly influences
students’ values and learning experiences Chua J.M.T, Luyun J.L (2019).
However, they can have negative impacts on their emotional and social
health. Social networking sites are widely used by university students. This
study investigated the purposes for which social networking sites are used
and their effects on learning, social interaction, and sleep duration. Students
may lose interest in real life and struggle with mood swings. It’s crucial to
educate students on using social media for positive outcomes. It is important
for students to use social media in a responsible and balanced manner to
avoid the negative effects and take advantage of the positive ones. Parents
and educators should also play an active role in educating students about
the responsible use of social media. More than 60% of teens are regularly
exposed to hate-based content. Excessive social media use has been linked
to sleep problems, attention problems, and feelings of exclusion among
teenagers. According to research, youngsters who use social media often
have higher levels of anxiety and sadness.

Students in developing countries are beginning to use social media

platforms to positively impact their learning process because of its ability to
positively change their learning process and performance. Students use it to
improve their academic learning progress and performance effectively.
However, the impact of social media platforms on students’ academic
learning progress is sometimes misinterpreted because of the distractive
nature of the platforms to students. Many scholars believe that social media
platforms have no positive impacts on student’s academic progress. This
study aims to investigate the impact of social media platforms on students’
academic learning

There is no doubt that Social media has gained wider acceptability and
usability and is also becoming probably the most important communication
tools among students especially at the higher level of educational pursuit. As
much as social media is viewed as having bridged the gap in communication
that existed. Within the social media Facebook, Twitter and others are now
gaining more and more patronage. These websites and social forums are way
of communicating directly with other people socially. Social media has the
potentials of influencing decision-making in a very short time regardless of
the distance. On the bases of its influence, benefits and demerits this study
is carried out in order to highlight the potentials of social media in the
academic setting by collaborative learning and improve the students’
academic performance. The results show that collaborative learning
positively and significantly with interactive with peers, interactive with
teachers and engagement which impact the students’ academic
performance.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

As technology has improved and internet usage has grown, social media has
established itself into our everyday lives. Almost all of students’ time is spent
on social media platforms, such as the Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and
Tiktok. Due to their extensive use, students are more exposed to phones and
social media compared to the much larger population. Numerous studies
have proved that social media use and academic achievement are negatively
correlated since it can result In behaviors that harm students’ careers, such
as addiction (Giunchiglia et al., 2018). The purpose of this study was to
evaluate how social media usage can affect the academic performance of a
student.

Specifically it answers the following questions:

1. Does students who use social media for networking and learning have
a higher chance of succeeding academically than those who use it for
amusement?

2. How do social media sites affect students’ academic output and time
management?
 3. How does using social media affect students’ ability to manage their
time and study?

Purpose Statement

This Qualitative research aims to explore the Impact of Social Media Usage
on Academic Performance. Such as how much time students spent on social
media and the outcomes in their grades and study habits. Determining
whether social media has a positive, negative, or neutral effect on students’
grades and learning experiences. There are students who struggle with their
studies. With the help of social media, their tasks have become easier, and it
helps them understand what they are learning better. Nowadays, they can
watch video lessons on YouTube and search online for guides. Using social
media can also improve our grades, especially for slow learners; you will get
a lot of information and knowledge on different things because social media
has many sources.; this is a significant help for them. On the other hand,
there are negative effects as well, such as some students becoming lazy
because they rely too much on AI. However, there are still more benefits to
using it. One of these is that you no longer have to struggle to find important
information in books, because with just one search on social media, many
ideas will come up. Students are becoming more advanced, and many
students are also addicted to online games and are neglecting their studies.

Assumptions
There are several assumptions in this research. First one, the researchers
assume that overused of social media can affect STEM students’ academic
performance. The second one, the researchers assume that a lot of STEM
students in Our Lady of Fatima University — Pampanga Campus are using
social media that can use in a positive and negative way. Third, the
researchers assume that late night social media use can also disrupt sleep
schedules and cognitive function. And Lastly, the researchers assume that
using social media helps students with their studies by using any websites,
searching ideas and informations. Using social media became part of their
lifestyle. Additionally, the researchers claims that social media became
students’ distraction that led neglecting their studies.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The Cognitive Load Theory, this study is supported by the theory of John
Sweller (1988), suggests that our working memory of information is only able
to hold a small time and that instructional methods should avoid overloading
it in order to maximize learning. This theory explains that multitasking
between social media and studying creates a high cognitive load, where the
brain of STEM students who prioritize social media more than studies
struggles to process their mind due to the constant switching between tasks.
Excessive use of social media can lead to distracting and cognitive load,
which can impair the performance of STEM students.

GROUP LEADER: Cabacang, Ziena Mae C.

GROUP MEMBERS:

Barquin, Shekinah Vhenice B.

De Leon, Caye Lianne R.

Dungca, Raqaine E.

Feliciano, Andrei Koline B.

Lumot, Zyenzel Azy J.

Punzalan, Peter R.
Sahagun, Jervy C.