Laysan A. Rybakova1* and Roza A. Valeeva2
1Institute of Psychology and Education, Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University,
Kazan, Russia. E-mail: [email protected]
2Institute of Psychology and Education, Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University,
Kazan, Russia. E-mail: [email protected] *corresponding author email: [email protected]
Abstract
The purpose of this study is the theoretical substantiation and experimental verification of the content, complex forms and methods to ensure the effective prevention of procrastination in students. 234 students of KFU took part in the experiment. In accordance with the aim of the study the following methods were used: theoretical study and analysis of psychological and pedagogical literature on the study, comparison, classification, generalization, formative experiment, diagnostic testing, data processing methods (quantitative and qualitative analysis), methods of mathematical processing of data (measures of central tendency, t- Student test). For testing the students' procrastination level we used “The scale of general procrastination” by B.V. Tukman and "The procrastination scale of students” by K. Ley. Based on the results of the experiment, a program that contains the forms and methods of prevention of procrastination in students was developed. On the basis of this work the conclusion was made that the developed program for the prevention of procrastination in students called "Road by walking!" is effective and contributes to positive qualities, gaining experience of self-organization, self-discipline and responsibility, acquisition of skills for organization of their time planning and considering priorities. The findings of the study are of practical value to the university staff in training future professionals at the university.
Keywords: procrastination, prevention of procrastination, students.
Introduction
Most students are young people aged 18 to 21. This age is an important period in a
person’s life. During this period, one typically gets a sense of maturity and identity, defines one's professional choice and future plans. Educational and professional achievements become important for the young person, and strengthen her/his self-faith and ability to undertake productive activities (Valeeva, 20015). This can thus make the foundation for a successful self- realization in the future. However, procrastination can become an obstacle to such achievements. In psychology, this phenomenon implies a deliberate delay to meeting planned deadlines, tasks and decision making, despite the fact that this may result in some problems.
Procrastination is common to some extent to all ages. Many people feel a sense of frustration because of not completing plans or urgent matters in time, and postpone the adoption of daily life decisions "for tomorrow." But procrastination may be most widespread among students.
The urgency of the problem in today's society, imposing strong demands for independence and personal responsibility, actively contributed to the study of procrastination. In Russia, the problem of procrastination has been paid attention to only recently.
Russian scientists have turned to the study of similar concepts. But more attention is paid to such aspects of human activity as laziness, inactivity, lack of willpower and poor organizational skills. However, procrastination as a psychological phenomenon is not limited to the above concepts. The term "procrastination" is relatively new in Russian psychology, but as a phenomenon it has existed since ancient times.
This phenomenon can affect all spheres of human activity. Learning activities are not an exception. It is believed that the learning process is characterized by the situations most often causing procrastination. In most cases it leads to negative consequences. Procrastination is one of the causes of learning difficulties reducing academic excellence. The negative effects are expressed not only in reducing the person’s success and productivity, and in preventing her/his development, both in study and in the professional sphere. They are also in the acute emotional experiences of her/his own failure, guilt, and dissatisfaction with the results of her/his activities. Therefore, the most urgent and promising trend at the moment is to study the causes of procrastination and its prevention. This issue is relevant to the student's life, both in Russia and abroad.
Mention of procrastination and description of this phenomenon can be found even in the Oxford dictionary in 1548, and in the works of the Industrial Revolution in the middle of the 18th century. The historical analysis of the phenomenon of procrastination was first undertaken by N. Milgram (1992), but the extensive scientific debate about this phenomenon started some twenty years earlier.
The scientific use the term "procrastination" was introduced by P. Ringenbach in
1971 in the book "Procrastination through the ages", cited by Knaus (1979). But Aitken (1982) revealed that Ringenbach's paper was never actually completed. In the same year a book was published by A. Ellis and B.Naous "Overcoming procrastination" (Ellis & Knaus, 1977), which is based on clinical observations. Then there was a popular science book by J. L. Burka and Yuen "Procrastination: what it is and how to fight it" (Burke & Yuen, 2008). The basis of this book the extensive consulting practice of its authors. In the mid-1980s scientific and academic analysis of the phenomenon of procrastination appeared (for example: Steel, 2007; Rothblum, 1986; Lay, 1986). At the end of the 20th through the beginning of the 21st century, this phenomenon has attracted the attention of Russian psychologists (Varvaricheva, 2010; Mikhailova, 2007; Shukhova, 1996).
Analysis of students’ procrastination problems in psychological and pedagogical literature and practice allows us to come to the conclusion about existence of the contradiction between the social necessity of the motivated and capable of effective forecasting person, and insufficient development of the content, forms and methods of students’ procrastination prevention and reducing. Although the notion of procrastination has been extended recently, there is no well-
articulated and universally accepted definition of it. K. Lay defines procrastination as a voluntary, irrational postponement of planned actions, despite the fact of a momentum or negative effect on the individual (Lay, 1986).
Ilyin suggests that procrastination (from the Latin. pro – instead, in front of and crastinus – tomorrow) is the tendency to the permanent postponement of later unpleasant affairs (Ilyin, 2011).Y.I. Varvaricheva's understanding of procrastination is as a conscious entity postponement of planned actions, despite the fact that this would entail some problems (Varavicheva, 2010). In our study, we adopt this definition of procrastination.
N. Milgram identified 5 types of procrastination (Milgram, 1992): - daily or household procrastination, performed regularly; - procrastination in decision-making;
- neurotic – delaying vital decisions, such as choosing a profession or family; - compulsive in which a person combines two kinds of procrastination – behavioural
and decision-making;
- academic – delaying the implementation of educational tasks, exam preparation, etc.
There are several approaches to the explanation of the causes of procrastination. One explanation of procrastination is given in the theory voltage reduction. Self-doubt, low self-esteem, the experience of past failures in the performance of any work may cause human anxiety or fear, especially if the
results of actions will be evaluated in public. Therefore, a person may try to avoid stress, which is associated with the implementation of the unpleasant, uninteresting or too challenging activities, and he begins to "play for time". A person starts to fulfill the task only when the fear of the consequences of failure outweigh the fear of an unsuccessful job execution.
Some scientists explain the cause of procrastination by situational factors. The longer the time an event is separated from the present moment, the less impact it has on the decision making. In particular, the researchers think that a person postpones important actions for the sake of the innate desire for momentary pleasure, especially if he has a negative experience of its fulfillment (Varavicheva, 2010).
There are scientists who consider procrastination as a tendency to resist externally imposed rules and terms. This mechanism triggers procrastination when a person cannot change the existing system, but that system irritates her/him. Violating the terms of activities creates the illusion of his independence and thus eliminates internal dissonance associated with the inability to display their will (Kryukova, 2004).
Scholars have identified several approaches to explaining the causes of procrastination:
- Psychodynamic approach. According to this concept, people avoid doing certain things because they are a threating their Ego;
- Behavioural approach. The classical theory of teaching explains that the establishment of certain forms of behaviour usually occur automatically, by reinforcement or lack of punishment. For procrastinators this view is reflected in their high ability to remember events about which they have procrastinated and their successful completion in a very short time before the final maturity date;
- Cognitive approach. According to this, three major phenomena underlie procrastination – irrational beliefs, low self-esteem and inability to make their own decisions. Each of these aspects is independent, having their distinctive causes, nonetheless, they are interconnected;
- Theory of time motivation. Theory of time motivation suggests that everyone prefers the type of activity that will bring maximum benefit, taking into account that these activities require a certain period of time. In other words, people tend to procrastinate when they come to the opinion that a particular job has low benefit.
It is believed that the learning process may be characterized by the conditions causing procrastination. Analyzing the causes of procrastination in line with the quality of the learning tasks, many authors point out the following conditions of the educational process, provoking procrastination:
- External forcing of the tasks; - Delayed impact;
- Long timescale given for implementation; - Boring, routine, unpleasant tasks;
- High employment with other activities; - Delayed rewards;
- Total reliance on written tasks.
Academic procrastination involves delay in the implementation of educational problems. Most student's procrastination is expressed in such forms of educational activities as writing assignments, essays, preparing for the session, design, execution of the routine of homework, writing term papers and dissertations.
K. Lay calls uncertainty in the terms of starting a task as one of the educational factors causing delay when students are given too much freedom in the choice of the time when they begin to work on any project (Lay, 1986). In studies of the students’ procrastination a lot of attention was paid to the role of
their motivation. The consequence of procrastination in most cases is not only a decline in academic performance and learning outcomes, but also an increase in neuroticism, growing exhaustion or deterioration of health. The behavioural component of students' procrastination tends to avoid tasks that students find unpleasant and repulsive, and to begin those activities, especially in the short-term, that seem more worthwhile. Such behaviour may be considered as a way to avoid responsibility or anxiety associated with learning. It can also be associated with stress.
Methods that have been used in an attempt to prevent students’ procrastination include:
psychological and pedagogical means (observation, survey, exercise, group discussion, debate, role play, group training) and psychotherapy (music therapy, game therapy, psycho gymnastics, psychic self-regulation, positive psychotherapy, individual psycho-correction, psychodrama, symbol drama, training, M. Murray’s goal setting technique).
The most effective methods in the prevention of students’ procrastination appear to be such forms as role play, discussion, brainstorming techniques and roundtables.
These methods are reflected in the authors' program "Road by walking!" aimed at the prevention of students’ procrastination, and tested in the formative stage of the experiment.
Methodological Framework
In accordance with the purpose of the study, we used the following methods: - theoretical: study and analysis of psychological and pedagogical literature,
comparison, classification, generalization;
- empirical: formative experiment, diagnostic test to identify the level of procrastination;
- data processing methods (quantitative and qualitative analysis), methods for mathematical processing of the data (Student's t-test).
To identify the students’ procrastination we used the following techniques:
- “General procrastination scale” by B.V. Tukman. This technique consists of 16 claims and is a short form of the scale of general procrastination consisting of 35 claims, which in turn is also a shortened form of the original technique, consisting of 72 points. The method is designed to measure the tendency towards procrastination. Procrastination is seen as a lack or absence of self- regulatory activities, the tendency to delay or completely avoid activities located exclusively under its own control. Procrastination scale is considered a useful technique for scientific research or for evaluation of changes occurring with the client struggling with this problem.
- “Procrastination scale for students” by K. Lay. The technique consists of 20 claims and is specially adapted for the student audience. It allows students to discover the trend towards postponement of the implementation of educational tasks and requirements of the institution. This scale allows one to establish an overall index of academic procrastination, and as a consequence, to learn the students' ability to self-control and planning. The measurement results were subjected to statistical analysis procedures. For the
analysis and interpretation of results obtained the following statistical methods were used: parametric Student's t-test for dependent and independent samples.
The study involved 234 students, 115 students made up the experimental group, 119 students were in the control group.
Results and Discussions
In ascertaining stage the initial levels of the students’ traits in the experimental and control groups were studied using the above techniques. In the experimental group, according to the Tukman’s "General procrastination scale”, 23.8% of students have low levels of procrastination, 34.9% have an average level, and 41.3% of the students have a high level of procrastination. For example, 60.3% of students said that if they do not like some things, they often postpone their implementation, 63.5% can often find a justification for something to do, 82.5% of the students responded that in most cases they do not finish the important things in advance and they have no time left. In the control group, according to the Tukman’s "General
procrastination scale” 25% of students have low level of procrastination, 35.9% of students have the average level of procrastination, and 39.1% of students have a high level of procrastination. For example, 60.9% of students said that if they do not like some things, they often postpone their implementation, 70.3% can often find a justification for something to do, 89.1% of the students in the control group responded that most cases do not finish the important things in advance and they have no time left.
The significance level of the t-test is t> 0.05 (t = 0.91). This means that on this indicator before the experiment both groups were equal. In both groups a high level of general procrastination dominated. Our data indicate difficulties in perception and adequate assessment of the allotted time to perform important tasks and decision-making. This indicates the growing trend toward postponement.
Studying the initial level of academic procrastination with the method of Lay’s “Procrastination scale for students” in the experimental group, the following conclusions were made: 25.4% had a low level of academic procrastination, 36.5% of students identified the average level, 38.1% of students had a high level of academic procrastination. For example, 82.5% of students said that they are often taken for performing tasks that are planning to carry out a few days ago, 93.7% reported that they usually have to rush to perform the task to the desired date, 60.3% said that often when preparing to exit home they suddenly remember something at the last minute that has to be finished, 93.7% of the students almost never take up the task as soon as it was set.
In the control group on the ascertaining stage, we obtained the following results: 28.1% have a low level of academic procrastination, 34.4% of the students identified the average level, 37.5% of students have a high level of academic procrastination. For example, 81.3% of the students in the control group answered that they are often taken for performing tasks that are planning to carry out a few days ago, 92.1% reported that they usually have to rush to perform the task to the desired date, 62.5% of students said that often when preparing out of the house, suddenly remember something at the last minute to finish, 93.8% of the students almost never take up the job as soon as it was given.
The significance level of the t-test is t> 0.05 (t = 0.34). This means that according to this indicator groups are equal before the experiment. In both groups higher levels of procrastination prevail. The results show the current trend to avoid the problems that students find unpleasant and repulsive. Short-term activities seem more worthwhile for the students than those requiring more time.
Thus, the ascertaining experiment showed that there is a growing trend toward postponement of important decisions and performing important tasks,
including training tasks and assignments. It calls for special work to prevent procrastination.
To reduce the level of procrastination, we developed a comprehensive program "Road by walking!".
The purpose of the program was to create conditions for preventing procrastination in the interest of the students for their personal growth and self- organization, improving accountability, and other strong-willed personality traits.
The program included 4 blocks of 4 lessons with an average of 1.5-2 hours per lesson. Classes were held twice a week. It should be noted that the program was implemented with all students.
The program content was associated with the direction of its implementation. In our case it is increase of self-discipline and responsibility.
Classes are held in stages, following the logic of the sequence of blocks for the prevention of procrastination: the control unit on time (time management); unit on self-organization and personal responsibility; unit on motivation; unit on emotion and volition.
Classes were constructed in such a way that each member of the group "lives out" various situations determining their ability and capacity to plan, prioritize important decisions, to organize their time, and self-organization.
An integrative approach in conducting studies on the prevention of procrastination, allowed for the deepening of issues of self-activity, reasoning motivation and planning, autonomy and decision-making, the successful life and helped the participants to get valuable experience in the study of their self, habits, values, skills and working together. Implementation of the “Road by walking!” helped them to overcome the difficulties, simulated in the classroom, reacting to and expressing their experiences, discussing topical issues.
It was noted that the students have a high interest in the information received. Understanding the essence of this phenomenon, familiarity with the