SWELL: Student Wellbeing and Learning on Laptops
research areas
timeframe
2025 - 2025
contact
doehne@soziologie.uzh.ch
D2USP student digital device use
Participant recruitment and incentivization for a project of members of the DSI communities WORK in collaboration with members of the community HEALTH, utilizing the Digital Device Use Self-Monitoring Platform (D2USP).
Developed with support from a DSI lab/infrastructure grant awarded in July 2024, the D2USP is a customizable, privacy-considerate platform for collecting data on digital device usage across laptops and desktop computers.
Background
In the Spring of 2025, we plan to conduct a large study involving students from disciplines across the UZH, requiring substantial recruitment efforts across different fields of study. This study will employ surveys, experience sampling, and digital data donations to develop a comprehensive understanding of student engagement with their work devices. Our aim is to systematize differences in digital knowledge work across disciplines and to study the relations between device use, study workload, and mental well-being.
Goals
This study will implement a modular design, developing separate modules to collect data on students’ subjective device use effectiveness, academic workload, and mental well-being. Participants will be recruited through course-based outreach and a centralized email campaign.
Method
By leveraging the D2USP platform, we aim to generate valuable insights that inform strategies to support student work-life balance, academic success, and mental well-being in an increasingly digital academic environment. The seed-funding will enable us to recruit participants for one (or more) studies conducted with DSI WORK community members, allowing us to fully utilize the D2USP for impactful research that benefits student effectiveness and well-being. This project offers an effective way to deliver on the promise of scalability of digital methods.