Improving Self-Regulation Through Online Time Management Intervention

• In Event: Differential Learning Formats for Self-Regulated Learning

Abstract

Academic learning places high demands on student autonomy. Additionally, common e-learning formats in higher education offer a special degree of freedom in the individual allocation of study time, which, however, also involves a high degree of self-regulation to achieve study goals in time. Consequently, knowledge about time management strategies and their use in order to efficiently plan and use study time is essential. However, freshmen students’ time management frequently turns out to be deficient, with negative consequences for their studying routines and academic performance. To make matters worse, students tend to show a discrepancy between knowing a strategy and using it effectively. Therefore, the goal of this study was to foster freshman students’ self-regulation of studying time, reduce procrastination, and thereby improve students’ academic performance via an online time management intervention for students in an e-learning course.
We conducted a field experiment with N = 128 freshman students who took part in an e-learning course that was part of their degree program. Participants’ time management was assessed at the beginning of the course. Participants with an initial time management deficit were randomly assigned to one of two intervention groups or a control group. Participants without an initial time management deficit could not be expected to benefit from a time management intervention, and were therefore considered as a reference group. We realized two different intervention groups. In the instruction-only group, participants received a detailed instruction on time management strategies. In the planning group, participants were encouraged to actively plan their studying efforts weekly. Both interventions were fully integrated into the online course. Course materials were provided exclusively via the online course as well, and participants were free to use it over the course of one semester. We tested students’ knowledge about time management strategies, and assessed their use of time management strategies as well as their procrastination behaviour while studying the course materials online. Participants’ actual use of studying time was recorded using log data from the online course. The course ended with a written exam, the results of which were used as an indicator for students’ academic performance.
Participants in both intervention groups demonstrated increased knowledge about time management strategies post-intervention as compared to the control group, but only the planning group also reported a more efficient use of time management strategies while studying in the online course. This was supported by the collected log data, which showed a more structured distribution of studying times over the course of the semester for the planning group. While both intervention groups reported less procrastination behaviour while studying in the online course as compared to the control group, participants in the planning group were superior regarding both procrastination and academic performance. At the end of the semester, the time management and academic performance of students in the planning group even appeared comparable to those of students in the reference group, who started without an initial time management deficit, indicating that participants in this group largely overcame their time management deficit during the intervention.

Authors

• Sebastian Trentepohl, Ruhr-University Bochum
  Presenting Author

• Julia Waldeyer, Ruhr University Bochum
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jens Fleischer, Ruhr-University Bochum
  Non-Presenting Author

• Julian Roelle, Ruhr University Bochum
  Non-Presenting Author

• Detlev Leutner, University of Duisburg-Essen
  Non-Presenting Author

• Joachim Wirth, Ruhr University Bochum
  Non-Presenting Author