[Air-l] multitasking

[Charlie Balch]

Great points. I happen to have a perfect opportunity to do a little research
here. I'm teaching two sections of the same class. In one section, I'm
lecturing in a computer lab and in the other in a traditional classroom. I
do not discourage my students in the lab environment from using the
computers while I lecture. (Those that want to yell at me for this should
start a new thread.) Assuming that my lectures are the major factor in
student learning, tests are meaningful, and that use of computers is a
distracter, I'm going to compare the test results at the end of this
semester.

Charlie
http://charlie.balch.org

-----Original Message-----
From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org
[mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Deanya Lattimore
Sent: Sunday, October 15, 2006 7:16 AM
To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
Subject: Re: [Air-l] multitasking

The term "multitasking" is still being used in all of these discussions to
signify too many conflated variables to reach any significant conclusions
from these data.

My point earlier was about processing differences.  Auditory and visual
processing are different things to me, and so I assume to some others as
well -- probably dozens of different things.  Measuring someone's ability to
switch back and forth between windows to accomplish multiple tasks --
something that I can do with lightning speed -- says nothing about one's
ability to listen in class and gloss over words on a screen at the same
time, something that I would NOT be able to do with any measure of
"success."

The windows task seems to be something visual for me -- I have no trouble
processing many visual cues at one time.  The paying attention to words task
seems to be auditory for me: two different "noises" no matter whether I am
reading them or hearing them.

We'll have to accept that we have different kinds of processing abilities
that transcend distinctions between a "multitasking" and "non-multitasking"
dichotomy before we'll figure out how to design studies that can really
teach us something.

Has anyone done anything to establish baseline processing differences before
the "multitasking" tasks were recorded?

Deanya

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