Date of Award:

5-2026

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Computer Science

Committee Chair(s)

John Edwards

Committee

John Edwards

Committee

Seth Poulsen

Committee

Wen Li

Abstract

Many students work on programming assignments while receiving notifications from their phones, such as text messages or social media alerts. These notifications can interrupt focus and make it harder to stay engaged with a task. This study examines whether silencing phone notifications helps students stay more focused while programming. 

We collected data from students in an introductory computer science course while they worked on programming assignments. Students completed some assignments with notifications silenced and others without. We measured their activity using software that records typing behavior and identifies when students take long pauses, which can indicate interruptions or loss of focus. 

We found that, on average, students took fewer long breaks when notifications were silenced. This suggests that reducing phone interruptions can help students stay more focused while working. However, the results were not the same for everyone. While many students benefited from turning off notifications, some students showed little change or even slightly worse outcomes. 

Overall, this study shows that silencing phone notifications can be a simple and effective way for many students to improve focus during programming. At the same time, it highlights that different students respond differently, and strategies for managing distractions may need to be personalized.

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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