Campus
Involvement and Dedication to Studies
Ben
Ahlers
University
of Iowa
Abstract
The topic of time management for college students is
highly debated. Especially for freshman, this is the first time when there is
not someone watching your every move to make sure that you get everything done
that needs to be done. These students must manage their time effectively to
allow them enough time throughout the day to successfully accomplish what needs
to be done, which can be very difficult for many. To further test this topic, I
conducted a survey consisting of 8 questions on an online survey website
(surveymonkey.com). I asked a total of 66 college students from a variety of
college campuses across the nation and examined their results on the survey to
better understand how they spent their time. Students are involved in many
activities throughout campus, and have to balance these with their sleep and
studies to have a successful college life and experience.
Introduction
A
major issue in the lives of college students is how they become involved on
campus and still keep up with their studies. In college, students are involved
in many activities (fraternities, sororities, sports, student organizations,
etc.) in addition to having to go to class, study, and do homework. According
to College Parent Central, “Being involved in the things happening at the
college can bring tremendous benefits to your college student. However, as with so many things during these
college years, it is important that your student find balance” (College 1). But
how do they do so much in such little time throughout the day and still be
successful in school? In my research, I asked students from several
universities multiple questions that gave me an idea of how this is possible.
The
majority of students were involved in various activities in high school,
whether it be sports, clubs, or service organizations. But once they transition
to college, many more opportunities have risen to their attention. The study
portrays these different opportunities that they have decided to take part in,
but also shows how they have continued to stay dedicated to their studies along
the way; successfully managing their time.
Time
management can, simply put, determine the success that a student has during
their time at college. According to the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay, “Effective
time management is a skill most people need to make the most out of their
personal and professional lives. To a college student, it can make the
difference between a mediocre and a superior performance” (Green Bay 1). This
study shows how college students have tackled the task of time management.
Methods
Participants: 55
men and 10 women participated in this study. All participants are current
students at the collegiate level.
Data
Sources: The data was compiled via surveymonkey.com (an online
survey website). Participants are all college students from various schools
across the nation (a large majority of which attend the University of Iowa).
Procedures: The
participants answered the 8 question survey online through surveymonkey.com.
The participants were asked various questions about their college life,
involvement on campus, and commitment to their education. With these results,
several graphs and charts were created to analyze the data based on gender,
university, and hometown.
Results
Although
bias was intended to be removed from the study, it is possible that gender
could have had an effect on the overall results of the survey. A large majority
of the respondents were male (55, or 83.33%) and only a small portion were
female (11, or 16.67%).
Figure
1: Students’
involvement in activities on campus
A main point of the research was to discover what ways
college students have become involved on campus. According to the research, 91%
of the participants participate in at least 1 campus activity, with the average
being slightly over 2 activities per participant. This exemplifies how the
struggle of time management occurs; students become involved in many things
(sometimes more than they can handle). With the wide variety of options
available to the students (see Figure 2), there is a lot of time that needs to
be divided amongst those that they choose to be involved in, which can prove to
be difficult at times.
Figure
2:
What activities are students involved in?
This figure simply provides an extension of figure 1. By having
this large variety of options, students must take into account the time that
goes into the various activities before they choose to join one, because after
all studies are most important and they are at college to receive an education.
Figure
3: How
much time does a student spend studying per week?
This chart looks at the other aspect of time management
in college: education. Students must balance their time studying alongside
their time in activities, as both are required for a healthy college lifestyle.
As shown in the chart, some subjects require more studying than others (for
example, science requires much more studying than foreign language). So
depending on the class load that the student has created for themselves for
that current semester, they could have a more difficult time making room for everything
in one day.
Discussion
This study has further explained the problem of time
management on college campuses. Although balancing studying, going to class,
and extracurricular activities can be difficult, it was made obvious to me that
it can be done. On average, students participate in roughly 2 extracurricular
activities, meaning that it is possible to be active on campus while still
getting your studies done. Through figure 3, it was made obvious to me that
studies are definitely still getting done while the students participate in
their other activities, meaning that their time management is successful for
the time being.
Although the study went smoothly, some errors could have
occurred. For example, I think it would have been beneficiary to eliminate the
gender bias in my results. To do this, I could have reached out specifically to
more female subjects and not as many male subjects. This would have allowed me
to see if there was a difference in time management between male and female
students on college campuses. Also, it would have been beneficiary to know how
many credit hours the students were enrolled in for the current semester. This
would allow me to see how much studying is required per hour of classes taken
(seeing if those with less credit hours are involved in more activities outside
of their studies).
Appendix
Survey Questions:
1.
What school do you currently attend?
a. Open-response
question
2.
What is your hometown and state?
a. Open-response
question
3.
What is your gender?
a. Male
b. Female
4.
What activities are you currently involved
in on campus? (Choose all that apply)
a. Fraternity/Sorority
b. Intramural
Sports
c. School
Sponsored Sport
d. Music
Group
e. Working
Class
f. Charitable
Organization
g. Other
(please specify)
i. Open-response
option
5.
Are you involved in more, less, or the
same amount of activities as you were in high school?
a. More
activities in college
b. Less
activities in college
c. Equal
amounts of activities in high school and college
6.
What type of classes are you currently
taking? (Choose all that apply)
a. Math
b. Science
c. History
d. Business
e. Foreign
Language
f. English
g. Music/Dance
7.
How much time do you spend studying/doing
homework for each subject per week?
a. Math
i. <1
Hour
ii. 1-2
Hours
iii. 2-3
Hours
iv. 3-4
Hours
v. 5+
Hours
b. Science
i. Same
options as before
c. History
i. Same
options as before
d. Business
i. Same
options as before
e. Foreign
Language
i. Same
options as before
f. English
i. Same
options as before
g. Music/Dance
i. Same
options as before
8.
How much sleep do you get on average per
night?
a. <4
Hours
b. 5
Hours
c. 6
Hours
d. 7
Hours
e. 8
Hours
f. 9+
Hours
References
Managing Time for Success in College. (n.d.). Retrieved November
5, 2015.
Why
You Should Encourage Your College Student to Get Involved on Campus. (2009,
November 8). Retrieved November 5, 2015.
