Systematic Review: Factors Affecting Academic Procrastination in Mathematics among Students

Abstract

Academic procrastination occurs when students postpone on completion of assignments at the designated time. The main characteristic of academic procrastination can be seen when students delay working on important assignments in order to involve in various dilatory behaviors. However, research on academic procrastination in Mathematics are still limited even though procrastination can affect academic performance. Therefore, this systematic literature review was conducted to identify the causal factors that affect students’ academic procrastination in Mathematics. This study also identified research trends of students’ academic procrastination in Mathematics based on year and country of study. A total of 21 articles were screened from 2018 to 2022 involving databases namely SCOPUS, WoS, ERIC and Google Scholar. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was used to select articles involving four phases, which is identification, screening, eligibility and included. Accordingly, findings indicated that 26 factors had influenced academic procrastination in Mathematics which were then classified into demographic, internal and external factors. Based on the study, self-efficacy, students’ motivation and interest were the two most dominant factors influencing academic procrastination in Mathematics. Most research were published in 2021 with Indonesia as the leading country in research on procrastination. This study has implications on improving students’ self-development training programs to increase self-efficacy and motivation. Further studies can be conducted through the development of a psychological intervention module to explore the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy on academic procrastination.