The Effect of Learning Log on the Academic Performance of University Students: The Case of Psychology Second Year Students in Jimma University

Abstract

The main intent of this study was to identify the impact of using learning log as a learning strategy on the academic performance of university students. Second year psychology students were included as subjects of this study. In the beginning of the study, the students were divided into two: experimental group (N = 60) and control group (N = 60) based on random selection. However, later, six and four students from the experimental and the control groups respectively didn\'t attend classes the whole semester, and as a result the study was carried on 54 experimental group and 56 control group students. The experimental group students used learning log on a weekly basis while the control group did not. Instructors of two selected courses (Psychology of Gender and Psychopharmacology) were given orientation on how to encourage their students to use learning log. The courses and the instructors were selected on the basis of their accessibility for the purpose of data collection. The experimental group students were informed that their learning log entries would be given some weights by their instructors. They were also made to write reports reflecting on their experience of using learning log. It was then found out that there was a significant mean difference between the performances of the students who used learning log and those who did not especially for the course Pschopharmacology, but the mean scores did not show a significant difference for the course Psychology of Gender. The reflective reports of the students also roughly indicated that the students developed positive attitudes towards using learning log. Based on the findings, it is recommended that large-scale studies be conducted to comprehensively investigate the application and implications of reflections on learning through the use of learning log on colleges and university studies. Ethiopian Journal of Education and Sciences Vol. 3 (2) 2008: pp. 1-10