Information Systems Education Journal (ISEDJ) 19 (2)

ISSN: 1545-679X April 2021

Effects of Teaching and Practice of Time

Management Skills on Academic Performance in
Computer Information Systems Courses

Sean L. Humpherys
[email protected]

Ibrahim Lazrig
[email protected]

Computer Information and Decision Management

West Texas A&M University
Canyon, TX 79016, USA

Abstract

This study proposes a time management intervention for college students that includes 1) identifying
academic deliverables with due dates, 2) preplanning specific study times each week in advance, 3)
and sharing the plan with the instructor. Results show a decrease in missing assignments and an
increase in course grades even when controlling for graduate/undergraduate status. Both
undergraduate and graduate students perceive the intervention as positive. Students practice time
management skills which are critical to their academic success and success as professional developers.

Keywords: time management, academic performance, procrastination

1. INTRODUCTION manage time, and perception regarding the

ability to control time (Lay & Schouwenburg,
Trait procrastinators are slower to act than non- 1993). As applied to academics, this definition
procrastinators and demonstrate a propensity prescribes that students should learn to define
for being behind schedule on personal projects goals for their academic success, identifying
(Lay, 1990), studying fewer hours for exams academic tasks, and prioritizing them.
(Lay & Burns, 1991), and turning in assignments
later than others (Ferrari, 1993). Students 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
frequently struggle to manage and balance their
study time and their workload (Van der Meer et Time management training in the workforce can
al., 2010). These behaviors can have deleterious have positive impacts on time management
impacts on a student's learning and academic behaviors. Hall and Hursch (1982) evaluated the
performance. In contrast, students who perceive effect of a training manual and weekly
control of time report greater evaluation of their consultation on workplace effectiveness. They
performance, greater work and life satisfaction, observed that time spent on high-priority tasks
less overload, and fewer job-induced tensions increased as did self-rated productivity and
(Macan et al., 1990). satisfaction. Employees who attended a 3-day
training program improved how they manage
Time management can be defined as setting time at work demonstrating that interventions
goals and priorities, the use of mechanics to can improve behavior (Orpen, 1994). Van Eerde

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Information Systems Education Journal (ISEDJ) 19 (2)
ISSN: 1545-679X April 2021

(2003a) observed a 1.5-day time management the success in developing these habits in
training seminar significantly reduced avoidance academics will also prepare them for the
behavior, reduced worry, and increased workforce where large software development
employees ability to manage time at work. Time projects often include setting short-range
management intervention helps employees avoid milestones and prioritizing tasks.
procrastination (Lay & Schouwenburg, 1993;
Van Eerde, 2003b). Lang (1992) demonstrated In this study we aim to experimentally test if
that time management techniques significantly learning about and practicing time management
lowered anxiety. skills will have a positive impact on students’
academic performance. The rationale for how a
García-Ros, Pérez-González, and Hinojosa time management intervention may positively
(2004) call for instructional proposals aimed at affect academic performance is as follows.
improving college student’s time management Some researchers consider time management as
behaviors. They identified three subcomponents one of the factors that influence students' study
of time management for students: short-range efforts and teaching students how to monitor
planning, long-range planning, and time their time and study environment will enhance
attitudes. Short-range planning is concerned their ability to make wise decisions about their
with the management of tasks and time ranging study times (Risko et al., 1991). Higher scores
from one day to one week. Long-range planning on the scales of setting goals and establishing
is focused on their goals over the academic year. study priorities were correlated with greater
Time attitudes are regarding their perceptions of percentage of planned academic work actually
control over time and self-efficacy. accomplished (Lay & Schouwenburg, 1993).
Some components of time management could be
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (7HHEP) used to predict college grade point average and
provides a useful framework for teaching time time-management practices may influence
management skills to students. According to college performance (Britton & Tesser, 1991).
Covey (1989), Habit 1 is “Be Proactive,” which
means taking responsibility for one academic Students who regularly identify what
performance and that a student can influence assignments are due and when may be more
their academic outcomes. Habit 2 is “Begin with aware of their academic demands and may be
the End in Mind” or goal setting. This habit less likely to forget to submit an assignment.
relates to García-Ros et al.’s long-range Turning in more assignments will result in fewer
planning. For students, long-range planning can zero grades and consequently a higher course
include setting goals for the academic semester grade. Students who regularly preplan their
or academic year and setting milestones to meet study time are more likely to follow through with
academic deadlines. The activity of identifying their plan and actually study, which should
what is due in a semester and the due dates can increase their knowledge attainment and their
be considered short-range and mid-range assessment grade. Identifying their academic
planning. demands may influence students to purposefully
load balance their study plans with work and life
Habit 3 is “Putting First Things First,” which is a demands, potentially minimizing time conflicts,
behavior of prioritizing activities that are in and avoid procrastination. The following
alignment with the student’s academic goals. hypothesis is testable.
The activity of preplanning when to study and
executing the plan can be considered a Habit 3 H1. Students who learn about and practice
activity. Time management has mechanics like time management skills will have fewer
lists and schedules and perceived control of time missing assignments and higher course
(Macan et al., 1990). Bacon, Fulton, and Mallot grades.
(1983) used a checklist system to improve
employee performance. Their system included a Perceived control over time leads to reduced
checklist of tasks and periodic supervisor review. overload and greater work and life satisfaction
The percentage of completed tasks increased by (Macan et al., 1990). Time management
29%. For our research purposes, we propose a interventions have the potential to increase a
time management intervention for college person’s feeling of satisfaction (Hall & Hursch,
students which includes learning about 7HHEP, 1982) and to decrease anxiety and stress
identifying what academic deliverables are due (Macan et al., 1990; Van Eerde, 2003a). Studies
and when (short-range to mid-range planning), also showed that procrastination is usually
and to specifically preplan study time for the associated with anxiety and low grades (Häfner
coming week (prioritizing). It is anticipated that et al., 2014). We predict that as students

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Information Systems Education Journal (ISEDJ) 19 (2)
ISSN: 1545-679X April 2021

receive training and implement the time preplan a goal, it gets accomplished. When you
management training, they will express positive don't preplan, you lose your way. So, answer
sentiments towards the intervention. this question to demonstrate and practice time
management and project management skills.
H2. Students who learn about and practice
time management skills will express Quiz Question 2: When will you study next
positive sentiments towards the week? Specifically, what days and what times?
intervention. This is a promise you make to yourself, not to
the professor. Poor Answer: "I'll study on
3. METHODOLOGY Tuesday and Thursday"---Poor because it is not
specific enough and distractions will stop you
Students at a southern, regional college of from succeeding. Poor Answer: "I don't know
business participated (N = 331). Undergraduate because my schedule changes each week." ---
students (n = 174) were from six sections of a That's the exact reason to preplan! You can
digital collaboration course and three sections of change it as needed but preplan. Great Answer:
an intermediate programming course. Graduate "I will study on Monday at 9pm-10pm; Wed
students (n = 157) participated in seven from 8am-10am; Thu from 8am-10am; Sat from
sections of an IT in healthcare course. All the 8pm-10pm. "
source sections except two were delivered
online. Demographic data were not collected as In one section of intermediate programming
there is no theoretical reason to do so and course, the professor administered the same
because the treatment was to be applied to all time management treatment and added that the
students equally in a course regardless of their students were to identify the deliverables for all
demographics. IRB approved the research their academic classes and preplan study time
protocol. on an electronic or paper calendar. Students
delivered a screenshot of their calendar instead
In the treatment group (n = 210), the professor of taking the short-answer quiz, but the learning
taught aspects of time management in a 15- objectives were the same as the other sections:
minute lecture. The topics are loosely based on identify deliverables and preplan study time.
7HHEP habits 1-3: Be Proactive, Begin with the
End in Mind, and First Things First. Students The variable treatment (yes, no) identifies who
were asked to identify the deliverables for their received the time management treatment. Two
class(es) (quizzes, exam, homework, anything students were removed from the treatment
that needed to be turned in for a grade). group for failure to accomplish more than 50%
Analogy was drawn to a professional developer of the treatment quizzes. The control group
tracking deliverables for clients. Students were included students from the same courses but
also asked to preplan their study time for each different sections and did not receive the
week. Students were taught that effective treatment.
preplanning includes specific day and time, e.g.,
“study Tuesday 4:00pm-5:30pm, Saturday Missing assignment percentage is the count of
11:00am-2:00pm” as opposed to ineffective assignments not turned-in by the student
planning, e.g., “study on Tuesday and divided by the total count of assignments. The
Saturday.” Analogy was drawn to successful time management quizzes were not included.
athletes who arrive at the gym each day at 6am Final grade percentage is the overall grade each
or at a team practice at a specific time not a student received in the course.
general time. Each week of the course the Is_Undergraduate_Student (yes, no) identifies
students delivered to the professor the two, time the student as an undergraduate student or
management tasks (identify deliverables and graduate students. This value was identified by
preplan study time) through a simple quiz with a the course the student was enrolled in. This
short-answer text box. The questions were as variable is used as a control with the assumption
follows. that graduate students will have more
experience with time management and naturally
Quiz Question 1: What are the deliverables due have fewer missed assignments despite the
next week? Just write or list them in this text treatment. Estimates of the mean missed
box. In business, knowing what deliverables are assignment percentage should be more accurate
due to the client and by when helps you plan the when accounting for undergraduate or graduate
tasks and insure you produce quality status.
deliverables by the due date. Many studies and
experiences have demonstrated that when you

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Information Systems Education Journal (ISEDJ) 19 (2)
ISSN: 1545-679X April 2021

The sentiment variable (positive, neutral, or Is_Undergrate_Student scores showed a

negative) was derived from a reflective exercise significant difference on missing assignment
at the end of the course for the treatment percentage (F(1, 316) = 57.47, p < .001, np2 =
group. The question was “Each week you were .15) and on final grade (F(1, 316) = 58.77, p <
asked to preplan your study schedule and .001, np2 = .15). Undergraduate students had
identify your deliverable. Did this activity help higher missing assignment percentages (M =
you improve your time management skills? Why 6.0, SD =7.2) than graduate students (M = 1.1,
or why not? You get points for participation not SD = 2.5). Undergraduate students had lower
for any predefined answer.” Three raters final grade percentages (M = 91.1, SD =7.5)
independently read the student’s reflection and than graduate students (M = 96.7, SD = 4.5).
judged the sentiment as positive, neutral, or Figure 1 and Figure 2 show the mean difference
negative. Instructions and examples were for missing assignment percentage and final
provided to the raters. Positive means the grade grouped by treatment.
student expressed improvement in time
management, positive results, or valuable A non-parametric equivalent of the MANOVA was
learning experience. Neutral means the student conducted. The R-version of the non-parametric
expressed no improvement in time management test used (nonpartest() in the npmv package)
or indifference to the learning experience. only allows for one independent variable but
Negative means the student expressed a does not require the same assumptions as the
decrease in time management, negative results, parametric tests (Burchett et al., 2017). Since
or dissatisfaction with the learning experience. treatment is the phenomena of interest,
treatment was used as the independent variable
4. RESULTS predicting missing assignment percentage and
final grade. The test confirmed the results from
Prior to the analysis, data were screened for the parametric MANOVA. A significant
missing data and outliers. Eleven participants multivariate main effect was observed for
were removed as multivariate outliers using treatment (F(2, 317) = 17.2, p < .001). The
Mahalanobis distance. Data was found to be function ssnonpartest (npmv package) is
multivariate normal and linear but homogeneity equivalent to the follow-up ANOVA tests to
was not met (Levene’s p < .001 ). A MANOVA determine which dependent variable is
was analyzed with treatment (yes, no), significantly different. The analysis confirmed
Is_Undergraduate_Student (yes, no), and their that both missing assignment percentage and
interaction predicting missing assignment final grade are statistically significant and the
percentage and final grade percentage. Alpha hypotheses of equality are rejected for both.
was 0.05 and Wilks' lambda was chosen as the Because of the internal algorithm, a t-statistic is
test statistic. Because of the non-homogeneity not reported. Instead the function returns a
and unequal group sizes, a non-parametric “reject” or “failure to reject” message at an
equivalent of the MANOVA was also conducted alpha of 0.05.
and results compared.
Figure 1. Students Receiving the Treatment
Significant multivariate main effects were found Submit More Assignments
for treatment (F(2, 315) = 4.81, p = .009, np2 =
.03) and for Is_Undergraduate_Student (F(2,
315) = 36.42, p < .001, np2 = .19), but not for
the interaction (F(2, 315) = 1.82, p = .16, np2 =
.01). Univariate ANOVAs examined individual
dependent variables. Treatment scores showed a
significant difference on missing assignment
percentage (F(1, 316) = 9.49, p = .002, np2 =
.03) and on final grade (F(1, 316) = 4.56, p =
.033, np2 = .01). Students who received the
treatment had lower missing assignment
percentages (M = 2.5, SD =5.1) than the control
group (M = 5.5, SD = 6.7). Students who
received the treatment had higher final grade
percentages (M = 94.9, SD =6.1) than the Note. The treatment has students regularly
control group (M = 92.1, SD = 7.5). identify academic assignments with due dates
and preplan weekly study time.

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Figure 2. Students’ Final Grade is Higher When Figure 4. Majority of graduate students
Taught Time Management. expressed improvement in time management
and valuable learning experience.

The percentage of students’ sentiments are

calculated based on the resulted rating by each
of the three raters. The final sentiment is
calculated using majority rule. For example, two An interrater reliability analysis using Fleiss
positive ratings lead to a positive sentiment, and (multi-Kappa) metric was performed to
if the three ratings are different (i.e. one determine consistency among raters. The
positive, one negative, and one neutral) the final interrater reliability for the raters was found to
sentiment will be neutral. The percentages be 0.68 which means a substantial agreement
shown in Figures 3 and 4 were obtained using between the three raters.
undergraduate and graduate students’
sentiments. The results show that the majority
(85% or more) of students find the activity very 5. DISCUSSION AND
helpful and improved their time management CONCLUSION
skills.

García-Ros et al. (2004) call for more

Figure 3. Majority of undergraduate instructional proposals designed for teaching
students expressed improvement in time management to college students. This
time management and valuable request is increasingly important for Information
System students as their professional skills often
learning experience. require working on large, lengthy development
projects where goals and milestones need to be
identified and prioritization of time is critical to
success.

This study proposes a time management

intervention for college students that includes 1)
identifying academic deliverables preferably for
a month at a time and for all the courses that a
student is enrolled in, 2) preplanning specific
study times a week in advance, 3) and sharing
the plan with the instructor through a checklist
or calendar system. We recommend that the
first three habits of 7HHEP provide a good
framework for learning about time management.
Useful videos are available at
https://www.franklincovey.com/the-7-
habits.html.

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Information Systems Education Journal (ISEDJ) 19 (2)
ISSN: 1545-679X April 2021

Results indicate that students who participated had negative effects on a student's academic
in the time management intervention missed success and potentially on our program’s
fewer assignments and scored higher on the accreditation. This study demonstrates that with
final course grade (H1), although the effect is a simple intervention the number of missed
smaller than that of being a graduate student assignments decreased because of student’s
with more life experience. On average, awareness of academic deliverables,
undergraduate students fail to submit more identification of due dates, and preplanning of
assignments than graduate students. Yet, both their study time. This study may also suggest
undergraduate students and the vast majority of that training alone is not enough to effect
graduate students self-reported that the time change. Being accountable to the professor and
management intervention had a positive impact receiving a small grade for participation in the
on their performance (H2). Many students report weekly or monthly exercises also helps motivate
that this intervention was a worthwhile activity students to implement time management
even at the graduate level. Graduate students practices. Van de Meer and Torenbeek (2010)
appreciate the intervention because they argue that universities and instructors should
reported greater conflicts with full-time work, play a more active role in helping students learn
family, and academic demands. Some students and practice time management.
reported that the time management skills had
an overflow effect that positively impacted their Secondly, professional success relies on similar
work and life time management. Some students time management skills as described in this
self-reported decreased stress consistent with paper. By practicing these skills in our courses,
past studies on time management. students have the opportunity to mature the
skills and attitudes needed to be successful
Study time duration is not the only consideration developers, network administrators, and data
when teaching college students about time scientists. Benefits of workplace time
management. How to study and the activities in management include increased performance and
effective studying are important qualitative decreased stress, overload, work-family
factors that impact academic success (García- conflicts, and family-work conflicts (Jex &
Ros et al., 2004). Some students reflected that Elacqua, 1999). We encourage instructors to
their preplanned study time was not successful teach about time management from an
because work or life demands made following academic perspective and professional
the plan difficult. Instructors should emphasize perspective. We also encourage instructors to
that adjustments and flexibility are successful use simple assessment tools to motivate
management behaviors. students to implement time management skills.

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