Impact of smartphone usage on academic performance: a study on undergraduates in FMSC of University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka

Abstract

This Quantitative study is focused on investigating the impact of smartphone usage on academic performance of the undergraduates in Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce (FMSC) of University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. Two hundred and twenty two (222) undergraduates who are currently studying in Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce of University of Sri Jayewardenepura were participated as the respondents of this study. Multiple linear regression analysis is used to investigate the relationship between the dependent variable (academic performance which is measured through GPA) and independent variables (Communicability with fellow students and lecturers, accessibility to study materials, influence on the student concentration, smartphone interaction on lecture engagement, and Student’s lifestyle). The empirical results revealed that, the majority of the respondents have used their smartphones to access social media applications, and Web-browser is identified as the most frequently used mobile application for the study purposes. There is a positive significant impact of smartphone usage on academic performance of the respondents in terms of Communicability with fellow students and lecturers, and accessibility to study materials. And also there is a negative significant impact of smartphone usage on academic performance of the respondents in terms of student’s concentration, and student’s lifestyle related with smartphone.