• Frackowiak Michal

The course offers an interdisciplinary overview of research on human interactions with screen-based technologies and their influence on everyday functioning, while emphasizing that such findings are often contradictory, conceptually fragmented, and methodologically limited. Rather than presenting definitive conclusions or prescribing "good" or "bad" media habits, the course introduces students to a Critical Thinking Toolkit that helps them examine how concepts are defined, how technology use is measured, how studies are designed, and how evidence is interpreted. Each week, students analyze a topic related to screen-based behaviour and contrast empirical research with dominant public narratives, such as moral panic about "addicted" population or simplistic claims about screen time, to understand where these narratives come from, why they persist, and how they diverge from what research actually shows.

1. Explain and critically assess key concepts in research on screen‑based technology use, identifying their ambiguities, inconsistencies, and implications for interpreting empirical findings.
2. Evaluate methodological approaches to studying technology use—self‑reports, logs, passive sensing, experiments—and assess how operationalization and design choices shape the conclusions that can be drawn.
3. Contrast scientific evidence with public discourse by identifying how media narratives, moral panic, and policy debates diverge from empirical findings and distort their interpretation.
4. Describe what research shows about the impact of screen‑based technologies on daily functioning, including emotional and behavioural processes, interpersonal communication, and sleep‑related mechanisms.
5. Apply a Critical Thinking Toolkit to interrogate research claims, identify methodological weaknesses, and formulate cautious, evidence‑based interpretations of technology‑related findings

Written essay-based exam (1 hour). Includes responding to one question in the written form.