Writing a timed study plan each week built students' time skills and exam scores
HelpedThe short version
Writing a timed plan each week and checking the last one built more time skill than only learning tips.
- 88
- engineering students who struggled with time
- Randomised
- groups picked at random
- Self-rated
- people rated themselves
- 3 tools
- tested
The study
Who took part
88 first-year engineering students at a German university. All were weak at using their time at the start of the term. The class was about 21 years old on average, and most were men.
What they did
All groups had a two-hour first session, then a 15-minute online task each week for one term. One group wrote a plan for each week with set times, study goals and if-then plans. They also checked how well they kept last week's plan. A second group had a talk on time skills and weekly quiz questions, and a third group did weekly writing tasks instead.
What happened
Both time groups got better at managing time than the writing group. The weekly planning group improved more than the talk group. On the end-of-term exam, the planning group beat the writing group, but the talk group's lead was not clear. Some of the paper's numbers don't add up and parts of the text were garbled.
What the study found
- HelpedTime management
Writing a timed plan each week and checking the last one built more time skill than only learning tips.
Small randomised trial of 88 engineering students who struggled with time · vs a talk on time skills with weekly quiz questions · they rated themselves · ⚠ numbers unreliable
- HelpedTime management
Both a talk on time skills and weekly planning practice built time skill more than a writing course did.
Small randomised trial of 88 engineering students who struggled with time · vs a lesson and weekly tasks on academic writing · they rated themselves · ⚠ numbers unreliable
- HelpedGoals
Writing a timed plan each week lifted final test scores; just learning tips made no clear difference.
Small randomised trial of 88 engineering students who struggled with time · vs a lesson and weekly tasks on academic writing · they rated themselves · ⚠ numbers unreliable
How solid is this?
- Groups picked at random
- Small group
- People rated themselves
- Numbers unreliable
Source
How Did It Get So Late So Soon? The Effects of Time Management Knowledge and Practice on Students’ Time Management Skills and Academic Performance (2022)
DOI: 10.3390/su14095097 (opens in a new tab)
