Advise students to plan their study days, use breaks between lectures for independent study, prevent procrastination, and invest effort¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 5 claims (4 for, 1 against) · 1 study (1 associational), q2 · 1 of 1 report an effect size · 5 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The article's individual-level recommendation is that students should "plan their study days and to actively consider using breaks for independent study in their learning plan", and that "students should find strategies to prevent procrastination and invest effort into learning time". These recommendations follow directly from the multilevel findings that planning, breaks use, effort, and low procrastination independently predict daily study satisfaction. The strategy is framed as applicable to all students because the random-slope model for breaks use did not fit better than the fixed-slope model.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Students must keep a daily learning plan and treat breaks between lectures as opportunities for independent study rather than pure leisure.

Constraints¶

Target Learners¶

• university students

Target Learning Goals¶

• daily study satisfaction
• self-regulated learning

Claims¶

• Using breaks between lectures for independent study is an independent positive predictor of daily study satisfaction beyond overall time investment [+W]
• Effort positively predicts daily study satisfaction above and beyond time investment, breaks use, planning, and procrastination, with the full predictor set explaining 49.3% of intraindividual variance [+W]
• Planning the study day at its start positively predicts daily study satisfaction above and beyond time investment, with the relation differing between students [+W]
• Procrastination is the strongest negative predictor of daily study satisfaction, reducing satisfaction above and beyond time investment, planning, and effort [-W]
• Daily lecture time and independent study time each positively predict students' daily study satisfaction, with relations differing significantly between students [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Universities should provide SRL training and consider reducing the length of breaks between lectures, using web-based instruction to give flexible attendance
• University teachers should act as role models by explicitly communicating lecture goals and time plans and reminding students to start exam preparation early

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Liborius, P., Bellhäuser, H., & Schmitz, B. (2019). What makes a good study day? An intraindividual study on university students' time investment by means of time-series analyses. Learning and Instruction, 60, 310-321. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2017.10.006