Internet Exposure

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

Background of the study The Internet was initially developed by the U.S Defense Department and was at one time only popular within the research community. Its ability to share information across organizations and to interact with the people at low cost has gradually enticed other sectors to explore its use. Today, the Internet has an impact on every side of our life including business operation, education, communication, entertainment, social activity, shopping, and so on (Nielsen, 2006).
In a survey conducted by Higher Education Institute of California, Los Angeles 2007 they have found out that in 31,500 first-year students at 114 colleges and universities in the United States 94 % of them reported spending time on online social networking websites during a typical week. Students who spent more time on these online spaces tended to report higher levels of difficulty in managing their time and developing effective study skills. Result of the study made by Willoughby (2008), found that most adolescents (93.9% of boys, 94.7% of girls) reported using the Internet in both early high school and late high school. In contrast, only 80.35 of boys and 28.8% of girls reported playing computer games. According to Willoughby, the use of computer games was associated with a decrease in academic performance. Those who reported using the internet less or excessively tended to have lower levels of academic performance than those who used it moderately.
On the other hand however, in Suhail and Bargee’s (2006) survey study with 200 university students from Pakistan, around three quarters of respondents noted positive effects of Internet use on their learning in at least three aspects. First, Internet use improved their grades. Second, the Internet expanded their reading, writing, and information-processing skills. Third, the Internet has proved a helpful tool in their studies. In the study conducted by a group of nursing students in the University of Santo Tomas (2009) the researchers have come up with a conclusion that social networking sites do affect one’s academic performance adversely. It directly causes the gradual drop of grades of students. Excessive use of these sites has influenced students to consider entertainment over learning (Burce et. al. 2009). A study of Balakrishnan (2010) suggests regarding the use of internet that it is important to search, identify, evaluate and use these information sources for their educational purposes. As students they should take the advantage of the ability to use information from the internet for their learning activities In a preliminary survey conducted, out of 30 respondents 20 of them said that they spend more than 5 hours surfing the net. When asked about their purpose in using the internet, 15 of them use internet mostly to socialize and for entertainment and 13 for research. When the respondents were asked regardingthe disadvantages of using internet, 13answered lack of sleep and9 of answered lack of concentration to study their lesson. Because of these reported cases, researchers opted to conduct a study to further analyze the relationship between students’level of exposure to internet and their academic performance.

Statement of the Problem
General Objectives
This study will be conducted to determine the relationship between level of internet exposure and students’ academic performance in University of San Agustin, Iloilo.
Specific Objectives:
More specifically, this study seeks to answer the following: 1. What is the profile of nursing students as to their sex and year level? 2. What is the level of exposure to Internet among selected nursing students? 3. What is the academic performance of the selected nursing students? 4. Is there a significant relationship between the nursing student’s profile and the level of their internet exposure? 5. Is there a significant relationship between the selected nursing student’s profile and their academic performance? 6. Is there a significant relationship between the level of exposure and student’s academic performance?

Conceptual Framework The variables that the study will investigate are the level of internet exposure and its relationship to the academic performance among selected nursing students in the University of San Agustin. The level of internet exposure is the independent variable while academic performance is the dependent variable. The personal profile of the nursing students in terms of age, sex, and year level, as antecedent variables to level of exposure and academic performance will also be examined. A research paradigm of the study is presented in Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Academic Performance
General Average 2nd semester S.Y 2010-2011

Level of Internet Exposure
Personal Profile * College level * Sex
Antecedent Independent Dependent

Figure 1: Schematic Diagram showing the assumed relationship between the independent and dependent variables of the study.

Hypothesis of the Study 1. There is no significant relationship between the personal profile of the selected nursing students and their level of internet exposure. 2. There is no significant relationship between the personal profile of the selected nursing students and their academic performance. 3. There is no significant relationship between the level of internet exposure and academic performance among selected nursing students.

Theoretical Framework According to visual learning theory by Rick Williams when we see visual images, whether we are conscious of them or not, they instantly shape our perceptions of reality, our internal sense of what is true and real. Images also simultaneously create unconscious memories that reside in the prefrontal lobes of the brain. Seventy-five percent of all information processed by the brain is derived from visual formats. The cognitive methods that support the most complex problem solving and decision-making and determine behavior are primarily visual and draw on our unconscious, visual memory to make helpful decisions and guide behavior.A person who uses images and models to study and to analyze information can retain this information in his mind. Using the internet, anyone can easily and conveniently search and download files, images or videos from different sources that they can use for educational purposes. Lessons or procedures teach by lecturers which are not understood by students can be search using the web, with videos that contains demonstrations of certain procedure. Thus, with the use of internet, students education can be improve.

Definition of Terms In order to have a clear understanding of the terms used in this study, the following terms were defined conceptually and operationally. A. Antecedent Variables
College Level- The level of education that college students are assumed to have attained (Mosby et. al., 2009). In this study, college level refers to the current year of educational level of students in the college of nursing.
Sex- The condition or character of being female or male; the physiological, functional, and psychological differences that distinguish the female and the male (American Heritage Dictionary 2006).
In this study, sex refers to whether the nursing student is male or female.

| B. Independent Variable

Exposure- the experience of coming into contact with an environmental condition or social influence that has a harmful or beneficial effect(Microsoft Encarta 2008).
Internet-a network that links computer networks all over the world by satellite and telephone, connecting users with service networks such as e-mail and the World Wide Web(Microsoft Encarta 2008). |
Level- relating to or characteristic of a particular rank or condition(Microsoft Encarta 2008). In this study, level of internet exposure refers to what extent a person is exposed; it is expressed in number of hours in a day or days in a week per usage. | C. Dependent Variable

Academic - relating to education, educational studies, an educational institution, or the educational system (Microsoft Encarta 2008).
Performance- the way in which somebody does a job, judged by its effectiveness (Microsoft Encarta 2008).
In this study, academic performance refers to the average grades of the students in the second semester of school year 2010-2011.

Significance of the Study This study will be useful to nursing students, family members, faculty and administration to promote and utilize the use of internet in a positive way. These findings will be significant to the following:
Respondents– the finding of the study will be most helpful to them because they will be able to understand the importance of utilizing the internet in improving their study. Knowledge about the effect of excessive use of internet to their grades may encourage them to use it in a more positive way.
Family Members – the result of this study will also benefit the family members because it will guide them in supervising the student in terms of internet use.
Faculty and Administration – the result of this study will benefit the teachers and clinical instructors. They will be able to use new teaching strategies to promote better learning for students. They will be able understand the effects of internet to students and their performance in school.
Scope and Limitation The title of this study is “Level of Internet Exposure and Academic Performance among Selected Nursing Students in the University of San Agustin”. The independent variable is the level of internet exposure and the dependent variable is the academic performance among the levels of 1 to 3 nursing students. The researchers only opted to consider the levels 1 to 3 nursing students of the University of San Agustin, Iloilo City. The total no. of nursing students is 863. The sample population of the study will be 273.10 as a result using Sloven’s formula. This study is a descriptive-correlational research utilizing one shot survey design. A researcher-made questionnaire will be used as an instrument. Tabulation and encoding of data gathered will be subjected to social package for Statistical Sciences (SPSS) at 0.05 alpha.