Transcript Changing Student Research Behaviors: What Every

Changing Student Research Behaviors:
What Every Procrastinator Should Know
Kacy Lundstrom
Utah State University
Who Procrastinates?
• 95% of students procrastinate (Ellis and Knaus 1977)
▫ Not related to gender, race or learning style
• Doctoral students delay dissertations
• “Even many beginning faculty…” delay tenure
duties (Ferrari 2000)
Why?
Causes:
• Large initial costs that discourage beginning a
task
• Task aversion
• Uncertainty
• Competing demands for time (social and
academic)
• Fear of failure (Zarick and Stonebraker 2009)
Procrastination Defined
• Delaying a relevant and timely activity (Ellis &
Knaus, 1977)
• Needlessly delaying tasks beyond the point of
discomfort (Solomon and Rothblum, 1984)
• Most definitions emphasize three criteria:
▫ Dilatory (intending to delay or defer)
▫ Needless
▫ Counterproductive & difficult to objectify
(Olafson, et al)
Dysfunctional:
• Chronic procrastination (frequent and habitual
delays) that are a hindrance to performance
(maladaptive)
▫ Decisional – purposeful delay in making decisions
within some specific time frame
▫ Behavioral – delaying tasks to protect a vulnerable
self-esteem
(Ferrari, 1994)
Functional
• Time spent prioritizing tasks or waiting for more
information
• “I work better under pressure”
• Getting into the zone – cognitive efficiency and
peak experience (Olafson et al 2007)
• Maximizing productivity and creativity
A shift in Causes:
(Head & Eisenberg 2009)
Fear of Failure
1984
Competing
Demands
2009
The Danger of Procrastination
in the Research Process:
• Students don’t understand research
as a process (Q: What is research?)
• Students often underestimate the
time needed for research
• Shortage of time on the research often means
less time for the product – less revision and time
formulating ideas
• Procrastination leads to behaviors based on:
▫ Efficiency, Utility, Familiarity & Habit (Google)
(Head & Eisenberg 2009)
Our Study
• Objective 1: Decrease procrastination due to the
illusion of immediacy
• The 6 week assignment – Join a community
• Data Sources
▫
▫
▫
▫
Instruction Session
Survey
Journal prompts
Citation Analysis
Marketing Time Management
• Instruction Session Components:
▫ Opening discussion about procrastination
▫ Evaluation activity with emphasis on time
management
▫ Continued emphasis on librarian’s role assisting
with time management (and saving time)
▫ Take-home research calendar
• Follow-up:
▫ Keeping a journal throughout process
▫ Targeted emails at each stage
Findings
Students who received time management
message….
• Responded at a much higher rate
• Reported librarian consultations
• Reported much earlier attempts at research
compared to their pre-assignment surveys
Is it our role to prevent
procrastination?
Possible Objections:
• It’s not my job to teach time
management skills
• We don’t have time
• I don’t know how
• It’s not possible to change this
behavior
Possible Benefits:
• The other messages aren’t
getting through because of
procrastination/lack of time
management
• Students inherently consider
time as a part of their research
behavior (needs to be
approached directly)
• Studies show that changing
behaviors is possible (previous
health behaviors, etc..)
Big Picture Reference
“But if we truly want to be student- or learnercentered, then engineering services to meet their
needs, situations, and work styles has to actually
mean something instead of just looking good in
accreditation documents…” (Janes 2009)
• Training based on how they actually behave
rather than how we hope they do
At the Desk
• Break the process into smaller tasks
• Familiarize yourself with their process as best
you can
• Embrace opportunities to talk about time
▫ “What do I do with this?”
• Try to schedule a follow up if you sense the
student is overwhelmed
• Don’t admonish - inform
In the Classroom
• Talk about it – frankly.
▫ Large and small group discussions
▫ Writing Prompts
▫ Surveys
 What is your research and time management style?
 Reflections on whether past procrastination led to
better outcomes
Practical Ideas Continued…
• Be familiar with curriculum assignments and
deadlines
• Be consistent with the message
• Embed the message of time management within
other IL messages
• Allow for authentic examples in class – allow it
to be messy and take time
• Encourage other groups and instructors to
emphasize availability of assistance from a
librarian with time management
Mediums for the message…
Using technology
• Email
• Twitter
• Online subject guides w/
calendars and appropriate links
• Embed into online classroom
calendar
Conclusion
What we stand to gain…
• An opportunity to prove to students that we are
thinking about who they are (and how they
behave)
• A greater likelihood that we will change their
research behaviors for the better
• An opportunity to market
ourselves as viable resources
in helping manage their time
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Burka, J.B., & L.M. Yuen (1983). Procrastination: Why you do it, what to do about it. Reading,
MA. Addison-Wesley.
Ellis & Knaus (1977) Overcoming procrastination. New York. Signet.
Ferrari, J. (1994). Dysfunctional procrastination and its relationship with self-esteem,
Interpersonal dependency, and self-defeating behaviors. Personality and Individual Differences,
17(5), 673-679.
Ferrari, J. (2001). Procrastination as self-regulation failure of performance: effects of cognitive
load, self-awareness, and time limits on ‘working under pressure’. European Journal of
Personality, 15, 391-406.
Ferrari, J., & Scher, S. (2000). Toward an understanding of academic and nonacademic tasks
procrastinated by students: the use of daily logs. Psychology in the Schools, 37(4), 359.
Ferrari, J., & Beck, B. (1998). Affective responses before and after fraudulent excuses by academic
procrastinators. Education, 118(4), 529.
Head, A. J. and M. B. Eisenberg (2009). How college students seek information in the digital age.
Project Information Literacy Progress Report. Washington DC, Information School, University of
Washington.
Janes, J. (2009). At the last minute. American Libraries, 40(4), 26.
Loertscher, D. (2009). The front end load of student research. Teacher Librarian, 36(4), 42-43.
Loertscher, D. (1996). All that glitters may not be gold. Emergency Librarian, 24(2), 20.
Schraw, G., Olafson, L., & Wadkins, T. (2007). Doing the things we do: A grounded theory of
academic procrastination. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99(1), 12-25. doi:10.1037/00220663.99.1.12.
Solomon, L.J., & Rothblum, E.D. (1984). Academic procrastination: Frequency and cognitivebehavioral correlates. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 31, 503-509.
Zarick, L., & Stonebraker, R. (2009). I'll do it tomorrow. College Teaching, 57(4), 211-215.