Procrastination, a self-regulation failure, is a common problem amongst students. Engaging in procrastination can have several negative consequences, such as a lower GPA, poor grades on assignments, increased stress, and higher frequency of sleep-related problems. Because each of these effects have an impact on students’ academic and social future, several studies have examined the interventions used to reduce procrastination. Despite that, no interventions prior to 2018 focused on strengthening students’ conscientiousness, which plays a key role in behavior, such as self-control and responsibility (Spielmann et al., 2022).
To address this research gap, Turner and Hodis (2023) used several online databases (i.e., Google Scholar, ERIC, Web of Science, Scopus, ProQuest, PsycINFO, and A+Education) to search for studies published from 2018 to 2023 that tested the effectiveness of an intervention on students’ procrastination. Key words, such as “academic procrastination” and “treatment”, were used to filter through articles, making sure that those that were selected contained enough detail (i.e. included a control group, an experimental study, a large sample, a post-test measure of academic procrastination, and were designed to reduce academic procrastination). As a result, 21 articles were read and summarized by the authors. Several types of interventions were examined (e.g., mindfulness, corrective feedback, social norms), and the duration of implementation ranged from one day to one year. 20 of the articles tested on university students. Out of the 21 articles examined, only 17 had interventions that were effective and six included follow-up measures to study the effectiveness on a long-term scale. Four articles examined moderating factors (e.g. moderation effects of workload) and two examined mediating factors (e.g. mediation effects of improvements in self-efficacy). Contrary to what the authors hypothesized, no interventions focused on increasing students’ conscientiousness. Lastly, 10 of the interventions were determined to be easy to implement in classrooms, specifically app-based interventions and multi-targeting interventions. App-based interventions consisted of using electronics to perform tasks, such as sending assignment reminders to students and completing online self-regulation modules. Interventions that targeted multiple factors that lead up to procrastination were found to be more effective compared to those that only focused on one factor.
The results suggest that there are various ways for teachers to help students successfully reduce procrastination. For example, teachers can encourage students to reflect on their study habits, design advantageous learning environments, and support students in developing more effective study strategies. Prior exposure to failure in students’ study habits may lead to avoidant behavior and, in turn, procrastination. Turner and Hodis’ study directly relates to EPIC’s focus on students’ experiences with failure by narrowing in its relationship with procrastination. Future EPIC studies can focus on how a students’ past experiences with failure, specifically in regards to studying, can influence their procrastination habits.
If you want to learn more about Turner and Hodis’ (2023) study, check it out at:
This post is written by Jessica Wang.
Reference:
Turner, M., & Hodis, F. A. (2023). A Systematic Review of Interventions to Reduce Academic Procrastination and Implications for Instructor-based Classroom Interventions. Educational Psychology Review, 35(4), 118-135.