SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

CSEC
SCHOOL BASED ASSESSMENT
SOCIAL STUDIES
GENERAL PROFICIENCY
 SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Names of Candidates: Candidates’ Numbers:

……………………………… …………………………………………

Centre Number: ………………………………..

School: ………………………………….
Name of Teacher: ………………………………
Title: The impact of social media on students’ academic performance

Year: ……………………………

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SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

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SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

TITLE

The impact of social media on students’ academic performance.

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 SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Without the assistance of family and friends, who assisted in a variety of ways, this

School-Based Assessment would not have been successful. It was genuinely appreciated

and their efforts are acknowledged.

To all the group members who participated in this project your tireless efforts are truly

valued, thank you.

Our Social Studies teacher ……………………..who was always accessible to answer

questions and provide guidance, deserves a special mention; without her, it would not

have been a success.

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 SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENT
PAGE

Introduction..........................................................................................................................4

Task 1 - Problem Statement.................................................................................................5

Task 2 - Reasons for Selecting the Area of Research...........................................................6

Task 3 - Method of Investigation.........................................................................................7

Task 4 - Data Collection Instrument....................................................................................8

Task 5 - Procedures of Data Collection..............................................................................11

Task 6 - Presentation of Data.............................................................................................12

Task 7 - Analysis and Interpretation of Data......................................................................15

Task 8 - Statement of Findings...........................................................................................17

Task 9 - Recommendations and Implementation Strategy.................................................18

Conclusion..........................................................................................................................19

Bibliography.......................................................................................................................20

Appendix............................................................................................................................21

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 SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

INTRODUCTION
Social media technologies enable the development and exchange of information, ideas,

hobbies, and other expressions. 59.3% of the world's population uses it. Many of which

are teenagers. Most students worldwide use social media. This will most likely affect

their grades in some way.

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 SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

TASK 1 - PROBLEM STATEMENT

How does social media impact the academic performance of Grade 11 students at TMSS?

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 SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

TASK 2 - REASON FOR SELECTING THE AREA OF

RESEARCH
The researchers chose a high school in No. …… Village, East Berbice Corentyne, Guyana

for their research. This secondary school has about 500 pupils.

Even when teachers are doing their jobs effectively, students' academic achievement in

various subject areas tends to vary. This issue might be caused by social media.

This area of research was selected since it is evident that this is a recurring issue at this

institution. As fellow students, the researchers believe that investigating this topic would

provide better results since gathering information is simpler and more practical.

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 SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

TASK 3 - METHOD OF INVESTIGATION

The researchers will be using printed questionnaires to gather information on this social

problem.

According to the Dictionary Oxford Languages, a questionnaire is defined as a set of

printed or written questions with a choice of answers, devised for a survey or statistical

study.

Questionnaires are easy to conduct, and large amounts of information can be obtained

from a large number of respondents. It also puts less pressure on the respondents.

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 SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

TASK 4 - DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT

Dear Students,

This is a survey being carried out at ………………… High School, in Grade 11 to

determine if social media has an impact on students’ academic performance and

suggestions on what can be done to reduce the level of social media usage.

This research is being conducted as part of the requirement for the Social Studies syllabus.

Please answer the given questions truthfully. Put a ( 🗸 ) in the boxes provided or write on

the lines if necessary. Thanks for your assistance.

……………………………………….

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 SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

………………………………………..

…………………………………………

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SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
 SOCIAL MEDIA QUESTIONNAIRE
1) Gender Low ☐ No issue at all ☐
Male ☐ Female ☐ 11) Do you think social media affects academic performance negatively?
2) What is your age? Yes ☐ No ☐
13 ☐ 14 ☐ 15 ☐ 16 ☐
12) How do you think social media can improve 3) Which class are you in? learning?
Business ☐ TVET ☐ Helps in communication and collaboration ☐
Science ☐ Arts ☐ Can find concrete information online ☐
Improves literacy and vocabulary ☐
4) Do you use any social media platforms? Promotes independent learning ☐
Yes ☐ No ☐ Other__________________________
(Please specify)
5) How many social media platforms are you on?
2-4 ☐ 5-7 ☐ 13) What content do you view regularly on social
8+ ☐ None ☐ media?
Video- (Youtube, Facebook, Tik Tok) ☐
6) When do you access social media? Audio- (podcasts, audiobooks) ☐
During free time ☐ Whilst at school ☐ Text- (Reddit, Twitter) ☐
Meal times ☐ Any spare moment ☐ Pictures/memes- (Instagram, Facebook) ☐

7) How long do you spend on social media per day? 14) How does too much time on social media affect
< 30 minutes ☐ 30-60 minutes ☐ your academic performance?
1-3 Hours ☐ 3+ hours ☐ Poor time management ☐
Grades decreasing ☐
8) How often do you post on social media? Decrease in productivity ☐
Never ☐ Every few months ☐ Lack of concentration in the classroom ☐
Daily ☐ Multiple times a day ☐ Other__________________________
(Please specify)
9) What particular time of day do you use social
media most? 15) How does social media usage affect you Midday ☐ Morning ☐ emotionally/physically?
Night ☐ Afternoon ☐ High stress levels ☐ Depression ☐
Anxiety ☐ Insomnia ☐
10) How would you rate the issue of social media Other__________________________ among students in
the school? (Please specify)
High ☐ Average ☐
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 SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

16) What do think can be done to reduce the level of 17) What do you think students should do to reduce their
social media usage in your school? usage of social media?
No phones allowed during class sessions ☐ Create a social media schedule ☐
No gadgets allowed at school ☐ Limit smartphone usage ☐ Replace
No access to an internet connection ☐ time spent on social media with
Encourage parents to talk about social media school activities ☐
use with their children ☐ Delete all social media platforms owned ☐
Other___________________________ Other____________________________
(Please specify) (Please specify)
SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

TASK 5 - PROCEDURES OF DATA COLLECTION

Printed questionnaire was used as the tool. A 20% sample was taken from the 100 students in Grade 11 at

TMSS. Twenty (20) questionnaires were then made with 17 closed-ended questions and was handed to 10

females and 10 males between the ages of 13 and 16. The data was collected by the researchers.

The method used to get data from students was deliberate selection. Data was gathered at

……………………………High School for two weeks, from September 19 to October 1.

The instruments were distributed and collected by hand by the researchers. This approach was required

because it guaranteed that data was correct and that researchers had access to data that was reliable and

genuine.
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TASK 6 - PRESENTATION OF DATA
A total of 20 questionnaires were distributed and collected. Data will be presented in the form of

statements and diagrams such as pie charts, bar graphs, and tables.
The data presentation shown in the bar graph above shows the percentages of reasons for viewing content on social

media. According to the data presentation, 80% of respondents stated they saw videos (YouTube, Facebook, Tik

Tok) on social media, 10% said pictures/memes

(Instagram, Facebook), 5% said text (Reddit, Twitter), and 5% said audio

(podcasts, audiobooks).

The data shown in the pie chart above indicates the influence of social media on students'

academic performance. According to the results, 45% of respondents claimed social media impacts

academic performance by decreasing grades, 25% said it affects time management, 15% said there

is a decrease in productivity, and another 15% stated loss of attention in the classroom has an

influence on their performance.

 Table 1:
QUESTION OPTIONS FREQUENCY % TOTAL % Table
What do you think Create a social media 8 40 100 showing
students should do schedule ways to
to reduce their usage reduce
of social media?
the
usage of
social
Limit smartphone 4 20 media
usage

Replace time spent on 6 30

social media with
school activities

Delete all social 2 10

media platforms
owned
The tally table above displays ways to limit social media usage from respondents to question No. 17. It can be

shown that 40% of respondents said that creating a social media timetable, 30% replacing time spent on social

media with school activities, 20% limit smartphone use, and 10% said deleting all social media sites owned will

reduce social media usage.

TASK 7 - ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA
According to the data gathered, 50% were males and 50% were females. The majority of

respondents (65%) were under the age of 16. This research only questioned students in Grade 11, which

explains why the majority (35%) of respondents were under the age of 15. It was also discovered that the

vast majority of respondents (35%) were from the Business class.

The researchers found from analysing the bar graph (Fig. 1) respondents said that when asked

what were their reasons for viewing content on social media majority (80%) of respondents said videos

(YouTube, Facebook, Tik Tok) while 10% indicated they viewed pictures/memes (Instagram, Facebook).

5% said they viewed text (Reddit, Twitter) and another 5% said audio (podcasts, audiobooks). Videos are

undoubtedly the preferred content to be viewed by respondents. Since videos are usually time consuming

and easily digestible for young persons they continue watching thus they have no time to study.

According to an article made by Muhammad Adil (2022) titled "10+ Reasons Why Social

Media is Bad for Students in Education" Content No. 2, "Research shows that the students spend

12 hours maximum on using social media. Social media affects a lot of their academic performance.

Mostly the students who’ve used social media every time get lower marks. From my experience and

research, social media drop the grades and other academic performance of the students.” The research

shows that majority

(50%) spend 3+ hours every day on social media thus proving the article’s quote correct.
The majority (45%) of respondents said that spending too much time on social media affected their grades

since it showed a decline. This decrease in grades is most likely caused by too much time on social media

watching videos as stated in paragraph 3.

When asked how social media impacts respondents emotionally/physically, 35% reported having

anxiety and another 35% reported insomnia. According to an article by

Lawrence Robinson and Melinda Smith, M.A. (2022) titled “Social Media and Mental Health”, “You feel

pressure to post regular content about yourself, get comments or likes on your posts, or respond quickly

and enthusiastically to friends’ posts.”, further proving anxiety is a valid negative effect of social media

use. The insomnia is most likely cause by too much time on social media at night.

From Table 1 it was found that most of the respondents (40%) agreed that students should create a

social media timetable, while a ratio of (20:30:10) agreed that students should limit smartphone usage,

replace time spent with school activities, and delete all social media. The research data should be used to

understand the severity of the issue and how to implement the suggested solutions into action.
TASK 8 - STATEMENT OF FINDINGS
The findings are:

1. Videos was found to be the social media content most viewed because of this, students spend longer

hours watching these videos making less time to study and improve grades.
2. It was also found that all that excess time spent on social media lead to students, grades decreasing.

3. It was found that majority of (40%) respondents suggested that students should create a social media time table

to manage how they spend their time wisely.

TASK 9 - RECOMMENDATIONS AND
IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY
After carefully analysing the data collected, social media is seen to have a negative impact on students’

academic performance of Grade 11 TMSS. The following are highly recommended to reduce this:

1. Teachers should have a no gadget rule during class sessions unless an emergency occurs they would be

permitted to use.

2. Teachers should encourage students to create a social media timetable and provide resources on how

to make one so students can balance academics and time on phones.

3. In order for these to be implemented the school board should hold a PTA meeting to address the issue

and encourage parents to monitor their children’s screen time so students’ won’t spend more time on

social media instead of studying.

** Implementation Strategy is missing
CONCLUSION
It was concluded that social media impacted students’ academic performance negatively. Students spend

more time on social media watching videos rather than taking that time to study or do school work, thus,

causing decreasing of grades.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Muhammad Adil. (January 13, 2022). "10+ Reasons Why Social Media is Bad for Students in Education".

Adilblogger. https://adilblogger.com/reasons-social-media-badstudentseducation/#:~:text=Social%20Media

%20Reduces%20the%20Communication%20Skills

%20of%20Students,-

Social%20media%20reduced&text=They%20didn't%20want%20to,only%20communicat e%20with

%20social%20media.
Lawrence Robinson and Melinda Smith, M.A. (December 20, 2022). “Social Media and

Mental Health”. Helpguide. https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/social-media-

andmentalhealth.htm#:~:text=However%2C%20multiple%20studies%20have%20found,about%20 your%20life

%20or%20appearance.
APPENDIX

COMPONENTS OF SBA MARKS Student’s

score
Statement of Problem (2)
• Problem stated clearly in the form of a 2
question 1
• Problem unclear but in a question form 0
• No question form
Reason For Selecting the Area of Research • (2)
Reason clearly stated 2
• Reason unclear 1
Method of Investigation (2)
• Method of Investigation justified, described 2
and stated 1
• Method of Investigation stated
Data Collection Instrument (4)
• Data collection instrument very well
constructed and sequenced and addresses 4
relevant variables
• Data collection instrument 3
wellconstructed and sequenced and 2
addresses relevant variables 1
• Data collection instrument satisfactorily
constructed and sequenced
• Data collection instrument identified only
 CSEC Social Studies
SBA Marking Scheme
5. Procedures for Data Collection
• Procedures to collect data identified and
clearly described
• Procedures to collect data identified but
not clearly described
6. Presentation of Data (6)

• Data presented using tables, graphs and charts

that are appropriate, well labelled and 6
accurate
• Data presented in three ways that are 5
appropriate, well labelled but with
inaccuracies 4
• Data presented in two ways that are 3
appropriate and well labelled and accurate 2
• Data presented in two ways that are 1
appropriate, with inaccuracies
• Data presented in one way that are
appropriate, well labelled and accurate
• Data presented in one way with inaccuracies

7. Analysis and Interpretation of Data (8)

• Analysis and interpretation relevant and well- 7-8
developed 5-6
• Analysis and interpretation relevant and 3-4
adequately developed 1-2
• Analysis and interpretation moderately
relevant and moderately developed
• Analysis and interpretation show limited
relevance and development
8. Statement of Findings (3)
• Three statements of findings based on 3
data presented • Two statements of 2
findings based on data presented • One 1
statement of finding based on data presented
 9. Recommendations and Implementation (3)
Strategy 3
• Two recommendations and one 2
associated implementation strategy • 2
Two recommendations and no 1
implementation strategy • One
recommendation and one implementation
strategy
• One recommendation only OR one
implementation strategy

(a) Writing Skills (4 marks) (4)

• Excellent organization (paragraphing),
use of language, spelling and grammar 4
• Good organization, use of language, 3
spelling and grammar 2
• Satisfactory use of language and grammar 1
and several spelling errors
• Poor use of language, poor grammar and
many spelling errors

(b) Overall Presentation (4 marks) (4)

• Appropriate layout with four elements
such as acknowledgements, table of 4
contents, bibliography, cover page, 3
appendices 2
• Appropriate layout for the most part with 1
three of the elements
• A moderate presentation with only two of
the elements
• An unsatisfactory presentation with only
one of the elements
Total 40

** Sample Filled-out questionnaire is missing.