Use of electronic devices by the medical students of UniKL-RCMP, Malaysia, and its influence on academic performances

• Main Authors: Mainul, Haque, ATM Emdadul, Haque, Sandheep, Sugathan, Osman, Ali, Zakirul, Islam
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: R Medicine (General); RZ Other systems of medicine
• Online Access: http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/4988/1/FH02-FP-15-04170.pdf; http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/4988/
• Institution: Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin

Background: The availability and the use of electronic devices among the students of higher education have been continuing to grow. The devices connect the users to the world instantly, allow access to information, and enable interactivity with others. The uses of these devices are playing an important role, especially in their academic lives. Aims and Objectives: To identify the types of devices used for the students, the purpose of their use, and its influence on their academic performances. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire was developed, and its content validity was tested by a survey expert. About 300 questionnaires were later distributed among the available year-I, -II, and -III students, and 230 completed questionnaires were collected back from the participants. The data collected were inserted in the SPSS (version 17.0) program and analyzed accordingly. Results: Descriptive analysis showed that 71.7% of the respondents were female students; 68.7% were in 20–21 age groups; and 42.2% were from year I, 42.6% from year II, and the rest from year III. A total of 65.7% of the respondents admitted that they used to use electronic devices in the classroom, and 89.6% of which use a smartphone. Among the smartphone users, about 48% scored 465% marks in their last examination. Conclusion: It has been found that the students’ performance was directly associated with the use of electronic devices for academic purposes. In this study, students’ learning behavior with electronic devices, especially smartphones, was explored, and the data indicated that they want more access to the academic-friendly devices. The smart uses of electronic devices, therefore, help to improve the academic performance of the students.