middle east technical university, turkey 1 comparison of high school, undergraduate and graduate...

Middle East Technical University, Turkey

1

Comparison of

High School, Undergraduate and Graduate Studentson their

Procrastination Prevalence and Reasons

By

Bilge Uzun OzerMiddle East Technical University


2

• Every person has task to perform, but for one reason or another, completion of these task is often postponed.

• The general propensity to engage in such dilatory behavior is called procrastination.

• In their academic settings, students have such tasks as – writing term papers, – studying for exams, – reading weekly assignments, – academic administrative tasks, – attending tasks and/or – school activities in general.

• Being postponed of an academic task to another indefinite time is called academic procrastination.

procrastination? academic procrastination?

What is


3

Undergraduates

70% of college students

more often when

writing term papers (46%)

than

reading weekly assignments (30%) studying for examinations (28%) Graduates

Significant problem

more often when

weekly reading assignments (60%)

than

writing a term paper (42%) studying for examinations (39%)

High School Stds

Significant problem

No sytematic study conducted

on procrastination prevalence

PrevalenceHS?UG?GR?


4

Undergraduates

Fear of Failure

&

Task Aversiveness

Graduates

Perfectionism

High School Stds

Test Anxiety

ReasonsHS?UG?GR?


5

UNDERGRADUATE

GRADUATE

HIGH SCHOOL

COMPARISON?

Significance


6

Hence,

the present research attempts to expand the earlier

focus by looking at the levels, prevalence and the

reasons for academic procrastination on high

school, undergraduate and graduate students

Purpose


7

UNDERGRADUATE

GRADUATE

HIGH SCHOOL

Method Participants

Total of 447 students (247 female, 200 male)Average age = 20.4 (SD = 4.5, R = 15-32)

149 (83 female, 66 male)

M = 15.5, SD = .56

R = 15-17


M = 20.4, SD = 1.71

R = 17-26


M = 25.5, SD = 2.32

R = 22-32


8

Method Data Collection Instrument

The Procrastination Assessment Scale-Student

Part1Prevalence of

Procrastination•18 items

•6 areas of academic functioning: Writing a term paperStudying for an examReading weekly assignmentsAcademic administrative taskAttandance taskSchool activities in general

Part2Reasons of Procrastination•26 items•List a variety of 13 possible reasons;

•Evaluation anxiety •Perfectionism•Difficulty in making decision•Dependency and help seeking•Aversiveness of task•Lack of self confidence•Laziness•Lack of assertion•Fear of success•Rebellion against control•Risk taking•Tendency to feel overwhelmed and poorly manage time•Peer influence


9

High Schooln = 149

Undergraduaten = 150

Graduaten = 148

GenderNon-procrastinatorProcrastinator

NoSign.Diff.

47%

47%.

61%

53%

53%

39%

NoSign.Diff.

NoSign.Diff.

Mean (SD)

17.2(4.3)

20.2(3.8)

18.54.5

Results Frequency of Procrastination


10

High School

Undergraduate

Graduate

Reading AssignmentsStudying for ExamWriting Term Paper

32%

56%

38%.

39%

27%

47%

40%

30%

52%

Results Prevalence of Procrastination


11

High School UndergraduateGraduate

Perfectionism

Rebellion against control

Risk Taking

Results Reasons of Procrastination

Laziness

Lack of Assertion

Aversiveness ofTask

Fear of Failure

Risk Taking

Laziness


12

High Schooln = 149

Undergraduaten = 150

Graduaten = 148

GenderNon-procrastinatorProcrastinator

NoSign.Diff.

47%

47%.

61%

53%

53%

39%

NoSign.Diff.

NoSign.Diff.

Mean (SD)

17.2(4.3)

20.2(3.8)

18.5(4.5)

Results Comparison


13

• The purpose of the present research was to assess the difference among…

• Turkish version of Procrastination Assessment Scale-Student…

• The results of the descriptive statistics performed on each group showed that the undergraduates are the highest procrastinating group…

• …and the high school participants procrastinate less than the other two groups of students

• …finding revealed no gender difference on procrastination levels…

Discussion


14

• ...prevalence of procrastination among three groups was assessed on three areas of academic functioning…

• …while high school and undergraduate participants procrastinated more when studying for an exam, graduates procrastinated writing term paper…

• …students procrastinates the tasks that might have greatest impact on their academic performance…

• …that “this task is likely to be viewed as most important by students”…

Discussion


15

• The reason why students procrastinate was also evaluated as one of the aims of the present research.…

• …high school students engaged in academic procrastination due to their perfectionism tendencies, reason of rebellion against control, taking the risk and their laziness …

• undergraduates which are the highest procrastinating group engaged frequently in procrastination for the reason of lack of assertion and aversiveness of task …

• …Graduate participants reported to be procrastinator due to their fearing of failure and taking the risk …

• …the present findings showed similarity to previous findings regarding the reasons of procrastination …

Discussion


16

• … random selection would strengthen the findings of the study .…

• …reasons of academic procrastination were assessed by using the second part of the PASS …

• further research involving diverse samples within demographical and psychological variables might provide the actual results …

Limitations & Suggestions


17

Bilge Uzun [email protected]

middle east technical university, turkey 1 comparison of high school, undergraduate and graduate...

Documents