The use of technology in social and educational settings has expanded over the last decade. Millennial\nstudents are more likely to multitask, using a variety of devices, in social and classroom\nactivities. The aim of this study was to determine if in-class multitasking, specifically texting, had\nan impact on test scores of beginning nursing students. In this experimental study, ninety-one\nstudents enrolled in a first-level nursing course were randomly assigned to texting and non-texting\ngroups during a class lecture. The students listened to a twenty-minute lecture on the concept\nof infection and a sexually transmitted disease. The texting group was asked to send three text\nmessages to the instructor during the lecture. All students completed a ten-question quiz that\npertained to the lecture content and two questions on demographics following the lecture. Most\nstudents who participated in the study were females and had a grade point average between 3.0\nand 3.5. The results identified significant differences between the groups with lower scores in the\ntexting group. One may conclude that multitasking during class affects outcomes in terms of grading.
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