Can the time management trap be avoided by time management assistance among graduate students?

Abstract

ABSTRACT Time management skills may impact all aspects of students’ performance and achievement. This study used mixed method research: a qualitative method together with a complementary quantitative method. The qualitative method study examined student’s preparation plans leading up to the graduate paper. The quantitative method research examined the relationship between time management skills, procrastination, and academic achievement among Master of Education (M.Ed.) students, working on their theses. This is a complex, long-term task calling for effective time management in order to avoid or minimise procrastination. Unexpectedly, time management assistance did not affect the number of on-time submissions (according to the recommended project outline). These skills were significantly positively associated with academic procrastination, indicating that individuals having good time management skills are also low procrastinators. Both variables are negatively associated with the number of on-time submissions and did not mediate the relationship between time management assistance and the number of on-time submissions contrary to the hypotheses. The number of on-time submissions was positively associated with the final mark in that, as expected, the greater the number of on-time submissions, the higher the final mark. This study provides an innovative view that improves understanding of time management assistance for students: time management assistance does not affect each student identically. It is not effective for those students with time management difficulties yet disrupts those students with good time management skills. Such students ignore the plan proposed to them by lecturers and prefer to work independently.