Academic Tasks (academic + task)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Psychology60%

Selected Abstracts

Academic Procrastination in Two Settings: Motivation Correlates, Behavioral Patterns, and Negative Impact of Procrastination in Canada and Singapore

APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2010
Robert M. Klassen
Two studies are reported examining academic procrastination and motivation in 1,145 university students from Canada and Singapore. In Study 1, relationships between procrastination and motivation variables were found to be similar across contexts, with self-efficacy for self-regulated learning most strongly associated with procrastination in both contexts. In Study 2, patterns of procrastinating behavior and the negative impact of procrastination were examined and compared in Canadian and Singaporean undergraduates. Participants in both contexts reported writing to be the academic task most prone to procrastination. More Singaporeans than Canadians were classified as negative procrastinators (i.e. rated procrastination as a negative influence on academic functioning). In both contexts, negative procrastinators spent more time procrastinating than neutral procrastinators and displayed lower self-efficacy for self-regulated learning. On décrit deux recherches portant sur la motivation et la procrastination universitaire (tendance à remettre au lendemain) de 1145 étudiants du Canada et de Singapour. Dans la première étude, les relations entre la motivation et la procrastination sont apparues être analogues dans les deux pays, la variable la plus fortement associéà la procrastination étant l'auto-efficience pour l'apprentissage autorégulé. Dans la deuxième étude, les schémas comportementaux de procrastination et son impact négatif ont été analysés et comparés chez les étudiants de 1° cycle canadiens et singapouriens. Les sujets des deux pays ont mentionné la rédaction comme étant la tâche universitaire la plus soumise à la procrastination. Davantage de Singapouriens que de Canadiens été classés en procrastinateurs négatifs (c'est-à-dire que la procrastination est considérée comme étant un handicap pour les études). Dans les deux cas, les procrastinateurs négatifs gaspillaient plus de temps que les procrastinateurs neutres et manifestaient une moindre auto-efficience pour l'apprentissage autorégulé. [source]

Approaches to learning and studying in medical students: validation of a revised inventory and its relation to student characteristics and performance

MEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 5 2004
Karen Mattick
Introduction, Inventories to quantify approaches to studying try to determine how students approach academic tasks. Medical curricula usually aim to promote a deep approach to studying, which is associated with academic success and which may predict desirable traits postqualification. Aims, This study aimed to validate a revised Approaches to Learning and Studying Inventory (ALSI) in medical students and to explore its relation to student characteristics and performance. Methods, Confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate the reported constructs in a sample of 128 Year 1 medical students. Models were developed to investigate the effect of age, graduate status and gender, and the relationships between approaches to studying and assessment outcomes. Results, The ALSI performed as anticipated in this population, thus validating its use in our sample, but a 4-factor solution had a better fit than the reported 5-factor one. Medical students scored highly on deep approach compared with other students in higher education. Graduate status and gender had significant effects on approach to studying and a deep approach was associated with higher academic scores. Conclusions, The ALSI is valid for use in medical students and can uncover interesting relationships between approaches to studying and student characteristics. In addition, the ALSI has potential as a tool to predict student success, both academically and beyond qualification. [source]

Competence, persistence, and success: The positive psychology of behavioral skill instruction

PSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 1 2004
Brian K. Martens
Early school failure is a critical factor in the development of peer rejection and antisocial behavior in children. This paper describes three sets of instructional strategies that have been shown to promote high levels of academic competence by arranging frequent opportunities for correct skill practice: (a) teaching children at their instructional level and monitoring progress, (b) teaching children differently as their skills improve, and (c) rewarding success and setting goals. Research is reviewed showing that practicing skills to high levels of fluency leads to retention and endurance, the emergence of new forms of a skill, and creative problem solving. The motivation of children to complete academic tasks through the strategic use of reinforcement is discussed, as are the implications of these strategies for encouraging children to be persistent, self-motivated, life-long learners. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 19,30, 2004. [source]

Young Children's Reasoning About the Effects of Emotional and Physiological States on Academic Performance

CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 1 2009
Jennifer Amsterlaw
This study assessed young children's understanding of the effects of emotional and physiological states on cognitive performance. Five, 6-, 7-year-olds, and adults (N= 96) predicted and explained how children experiencing a variety of physiological and emotional states would perform on academic tasks. Scenarios included: (a) negative and positive emotions, (b) negative and positive physiological states, and (c) control conditions. All age groups understood the impairing effects of negative emotions and physiological states. Only 7-year-olds, however, showed adult-like reasoning about the potential enhancing effects of positive internal states and routinely cited cognitive mechanisms to explain how internal states affect performance. These results shed light on theory-of-mind development and also have significance for children's everyday school success. [source]

Effects of Aggression on Achievement: Does Conflict With the Teacher Make It Worse?

CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 6 2008
Deborah Stipek
This longitudinal study examined different explanations for negative associations between aggression and academic achievement using data collected from 403 children from low-income families followed from kindergarten or first grade (ages 6 and 7 years) through fifth grade (ages 10,11 years). Most results of growth curve analyses examining change over time and path analyses examining associations among the variables within grades were consistent with the hypothesis that the effect of aggression on achievement was partially mediated by the conflictual relationships relatively more aggressive children tended to develop with their teachers and concomitant reductions in engagement in academic tasks. The evidence suggested, however, that the relationship between aggression and achievement is complex and reciprocal. Gender differences were also observed. [source]