Empower, not impose!-Preventing academic procrastination

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Academic Writing Studies

Background:

• Student procrastination and disengagement are significant challenges in thesis writing.
• Effective goal setting between supervisors and students is crucial for academic progress.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how goal setting characteristics (participation, recording) and task characteristics (ambiguity, control) impact student engagement and procrastination during thesis writing.
• To identify specific criteria for supervisors to mitigate student procrastination.

Main Methods:

• A questionnaire-based study was conducted with 97 academic participants reflecting on their latest thesis.
• A multiple mediation model was employed to analyze the relationships between goal setting, task characteristics, engagement, and procrastination.

Main Results:

• Recording meeting outcomes indirectly reduced procrastination and increased engagement by lowering task ambiguity.
• Mutual goal setting (participation) indirectly enhanced engagement by increasing student control over the task.
• Both goal setting and task characteristics were found to influence student procrastination.

Conclusions:

• Supervisor-student goal setting, specifically through recording and participation, can effectively combat procrastination.
• Manipulating task ambiguity and control via goal setting strategies is key to enhancing student engagement.
• This research offers practical criteria for supervisors to support students and prevent academic delays.