PROCRASTINATION OF THE STUDENTS OF THE VŠB-TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF OSTRAVA AND THE SLOVAK AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY IN NITRA

Miroslava Miklošíková1 - Zuzana Palková2 - Vojtěch Václavík1 – Vojtech Dirner1 - Jan Valíček1 1VŠB - Technical University of Ostrava 2Slovak Agricultural University [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract One encounters many challenges during life which he/she must stand to and solve within a certain timeframe, and the tasks may be simple, difficult, complicated and uninteresting from a subjective point of view, neutral, appealing or attractive. The time of university studies is, in this context, a period during which a young individual must fulfil a variety of tasks related to learning and education. He/she should, for example, attend lectures, seminars and exercises, prepare and present seminar papers at pre-determined times, perform the duties necessary to obtain the individual credits, pass exams from the given subjects, know his/her learning style and, based on that, study in an efficient and independent manner. If a learner cannot comply with the study-related tasks on time, he/she has a problem. The statements described above make it clear that a success in learning is also linked with personal qualities and skills, because many of them determine whether and to what extent a student will have a tendency to put aside the learning duties (procrastinate). The content of the word procrastination is not defined in a uniform way. Where experts agree is the fact that the numbers of procrastinating individuals have been increasing and that university students represent a notable share of this number. The situation regarding procrastination of the students of the VŠB - Technical University of Ostrava and the Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra has been investigated using a questionnaire. Keywords: university student, university studies, independence, responsibility, activity, procrastination, university student procrastination.

1 INTRODUCTION Completion of university studies is an arduous and continuous learning activity, including continuous compliance with a number of different demanding learning tasks. Students are required to attend lec- tures and exercises, attend field trips, meet the credit conditions, pass partial and final exams, prepare and present seminar papers in the given times, collaborate on some project solutions, prepare and show presentations, overcome any setbacks during their studies, and especially endure and complete the studies. In fulfilling all these obligations, they are expected to show considerable degree of activity, independence, responsibility, creativity, self-education, and self-regulation, as well as concrete ideas about the procedures through which it is possible to achieve their learning objectives. Students' ability to succeed in meeting the study requirements is also influenced by the situational as- pects - after graduating from secondary school, many of them find themselves in an entirely new situ- ation. Some of them start their studies outside their home and feel unexpectedly adult and completely "free". They often have no learning habits or any clear idea on how to cope with the learning tasks, how to distribute their completion in time, how to work in order to avoid being in a hurry before the task is to be submitted. The missing learning habits can cause that they start postponing tasks for later. The tendency to postpone tasks - procrastination - can also negatively affect their internalized, but mistaken goals the students have incorrectly taken up as their own. The well-defined objectives enable them to effectively focus their learning process, they provide a time frame for planning the learning activities and they help to motivate the students themselves (Pisoňová, 2009). 2 PROCRASTINATION AND ITS CAUSES ACCORDING TO EXPERTS A psychological dictionary defines the content of the expression "procrastination" as "tardiness, reluctance, a tendency to postpone tasks and responsibilities, particularly due to recklessness or laziness" (Hartl, Hartlová, 2010, page 448). However, this definition is not the only one. Silver, Sabini (1981, page 207) say that one procrastinates "when one knows what he wants to do, what he can do, tries to do it, but does not do it anyway." According to Knaus (2002), a procrastinating person prefers doing anything else, just not what he should be doing. The answer to the question why a person procrastinates is not easy. The causes of postponing duties may be very different. According to Passig, Lobo (2010), one of the reasons is increasing overloading which a person is permanently exposed to. Another group of experts believe that postponing duties is a bad habit. Another theory is based on the assumption that procrastination means a demonstration of the fear of failure. It is based on the knowledge that a person being afraid of lack of knowledge and skills to handle an activity would rather leave it. In the case of students, the trigger mechanism may, for example, be the fear of failure in meeting the tasks or taking tests, or lack of confidence in their own abilities. A possible cause of chronic procrastination also includes the lower level of intelligence. On the basis of this opinion, we could assume that the less talented students ovoid completing their tasks and studying duties because they are beyond their capabilities. On the other hand, it has been proved that the learning success is not influenced only by the level of intelligence, but also by the student's family background and the personal qualities of a person - diligence, perseverance, will, activity, independence, responsibility, skills to overcome obstacles, communication skills, etc. One documented theory says, duties are more often postponed by those who are less successful in their activities and who can not adequately organize their activities. Willingness and ability to effectively organize your time, making optimal plan of performance of specific learning activities and respecting the created schedule require a certain degree of managerial competence (Veteška, 2010). Some theorists stress boredom as the cause of postponing duties. Individuals who get bored quickly easily succumb to an idea of doing another activity, they let themselves be distracted, they are impulsive, impatient and they rather postpone the "boring" duties for later. However, it has been discovered, at the same time, that people procrastinate less if the given activity or work is interesting for them, they can apply their skills in dealing with the solution, they are given clear instructions and they are adequately rewarded for completing a task correctly (Passig, Lobo 2010). If we relate these claims to studying and education, we believe that attractively and creatively lead university educational process can reduce the tendency of university students to postpone their studying requirements due to boredom (Honzíková, 2008).

1.1 PROCRASTINATION OF THE STUDENTS OF THE VŠB-TU OF OSTRAVA AND SPU IN NITRA We have surveyed the situation regarding procrastination among the students of the VŠB - Technical University of Ostrava and the Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra, using anonymous questionnaires. We have presented the anonymous questionnaire with 18 statements related to their tendency to postpone school duties to one hundred and four students of the VŠB - Technical University of Ostrava (61 men and 43 women) and a hundred students of the Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra (73 men and 27 women) during the period between 1 December 2011 and 29 February 2012 and their task was to express a degree of (dis)agreement, using a numerical scale - 2 - 1 0 1 2. The respondents were from 19 to 31 years old, with an average age of respondents at the VŠB - Technical University of Ostrava being 21.8 years and at the Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra, it was 21.4 years.

It is clear from Figure 1 that the students of the VŠB - Technical University of Ostrava provided the following replies to a statement "I am enjoying the field of study I am studying”: 36% out of the one hundred and four respondents clearly enjoy the field of study, 44% of them rather enjoy their studies, 16% selected a neutral response, 2% of the participants rather dislike their studies and 2% found their studies to be completely uninteresting. In a summary, we can say that 80% of the participants from the VŠB - TUO clearly enjoy or at least mostly enjoy their field of study. The students of the Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra (thereinafter only SPU in Nitra) responded as follows: 22% out of the one hundred surveyed students clearly enjoy the field of study they have chosen, 35% of them rather enjoy it, 32% selected a neutral response, 8% rather dislike their studies and 3% do not like their studies at all. In a summary, we can say that 57% of the participants from the SPU in Nitra clearly enjoy or at least mostly enjoy their field of study. Figure 1: I am enjoying the field of study I am studying

For item 2 - "As far as the studies are concerned, I have my resolutions which I intend to honour", the students of the VŠB - TUO reacted as follows: for 44% of students this attitude is rather typical, for 34% it is absolutely typical, 16% of them responded neutrally. It is therefore possible to say that 78% of students at the VŠB-TUO are entirely or largely committed to fulfil their resolutions regarding their studies. The students of the SPU in Nitra responded as follows: for 53% of students this attitude is rather typical, for 30% it is absolutely typical, and 13% of them responded neutrally. It is therefore pos- sible to say that 83% of students at the SPU in Nitra are entirely or largely committed to fulfil their res- olutions regarding their studies. For item 3 "I plan the order in which I will perform the duties related to my studies" the students of the VŠB - TUO replied as follows: for 46% of participants such behaviour is rather typical, for 24% it is ab - solutely typical, 21% of students selected a neutral response. Based on these data, we can say that 70% of students more or less plan the order in which they intend to perform the tasks associated to their studies. The students of the SPU in Nitra selected the following responses: for 41% of parti- cipants such behaviour is rather typical, for 19% it is absolutely typical, 20% of students selected a neutral response. Based on these data, we can say that 60% of students more or less plan the order in which they intend to perform the tasks associated to their studies. For item 4 - "I complete all the school duties I have planned for the day almost every time " the students of the VŠB - TUO replied as follows: for 32% of students this behaviour is rather typical, 28% of them selected a neutral answer - it depends, for 27% of students this behaviour is rather unusual, for 8% it is absolutely typical, and 5% of students never act this way. We can say that 32% of students tend to disregard the planned learning activities, 40% of students rather or entirely adhere to the plan. The students of the SPU in Nitra selected the following responses: for 26% of students this behaviour is rather typical, 31% of them selected a neutral answer - it depends, for 25% of students this behaviour is rather unusual, for 10% it is absolutely typical, and 8% of students never act this way. We can say that 36% of students tend to disregard the planned learning activities, 40% of the students rather or entirely adhere to the plan. Item 5 - "It often happens to me that I postpone my duties to the last moment" provided the following data: 34% of the students at the VŠB-TUO rather agree with the statement, 21% absolutely agree, 20% replied neutrally, 19% rather disagree with the statement, and 6% do not agree with the state- ment at all. It can be said that 55% of students postpone their study duties to the last moment in all cases, or at least often. The students of the SPU in Nitra presented the following opinions: 38% of stu- dents rather agree with the statement, 19% absolutely agree, 18% replied neutrally, 17% rather dis- agree with the statement, and 8% do not agree with the statement at all. It can be said that 57% of students postpone their study duties to the last moment in all cases, or at least often (Figure 2). Figure 2: It often happens to me that I postpone my duties to the last moment

For item 6 - "When there is a demanding task ahead o me I do everything else, but not the task in question" the students of the VŠB - TUO provided the following replies: 35% of them responded neut- rally (it depends), for 10% of them this behaviour is absolutely atypical, 24% responded that such be- haviour is not typical for them, for 22% of students this behaviour is rather typical and for 10% it is ab- solutely typical. The data show that the number of students of the VŠB - TUO who tend to postpone difficult tasks (32%) is approximately the same as the number of those who do not postpone difficult tasks (33%). The students of the SPU in Nitra selected the following responses: 26% of all the stu- dents responded neutrally (it depends), for 18% of them this behaviour is absolutely atypical, 23% re- sponded that such behaviour is not typical for them, for 26% of students this behaviour is rather typical and for 7% it is absolutely typical. The data show that 33% of students surveyed at the SPU in Nitra tend to postpone difficult tasks, while 41% of them do not behave this way. By including item 7 "In my opinion, procrastination is a bad habit" in the questionnaire; we wanted to find out how the students themselves see procrastination. 20% of students of the VŠB-TUO clearly see procrastination as a bad habit, 43% of them support the opinion that it is rather a bad habit, 28% have neutral attitude towards the statement, 5% of students rather disagree with the statement, 4% absolutely disagree. Based on the data, we can say that 63% of the students are in favour of the view that procrastination is a bad habit. The students of the SPU in Nitra provided the following replies: for 23% of them procrastination clearly is a bad habit, 34% of them support the opinion that it is rather a bad habit, 25% have neutral attitude towards the statement, 12% of students rather disagree with the statement, 6% absolutely disagree. Based on the data, we can say that 57% of students are in favour of the view that procrastination is a bad habit.

3 CONCLUSION It is difficult to obtain accurate data revealing whether and by how much the number of university students who postpone their study duties has increased, how many and which study duties are specifically involved, and to provide a simple list of all the causes contributing to this behaviour. Every social phenomenon is inherently related to the nature and requirements of the particular period of time. Our survey has shown that 78% of the students of the VŠB-TUO and 83% of the participants from the SPU in Nitra are entirely or largely committed to fulfil their resolutions to master and complete their studies. 70% of the students of the VŠB-TUO and 60% of the students at the SPU in Nitra more or less plan the order in which they intends to perform the tasks associated to their studies. Although the students say that they often postpone the fulfilment of their study requirements until the last moment - 55% of the students at the VŠB-TUO and 55% of the students at the SPU in Nitra believe that it is not necessary to draw pessimistic conclusions based on this information. "Student Life" has always been, to some extent, connected with entertainment, experiences and the so called prolonged youth. In addition to that, on the basis of the collected data, we can state that nearly half of the students are trying not to postpone their duties. The questionnaire has shown that 63% of the students of the VŠB- TUO and 57% of the students of the SPU are well aware of the fact that procrastination is a bad habit – in our opinion that is pleasing information. The students are well aware that the success in the study is entirely in their own hands. To summarize the gathered data, it should also be noted that a self- assessment is subjective, which in this case resulted in a partial mismatch of the data in items where we would expect them to match. 4 REFERENCES [1] HARTL, P. – HARTLOVÁ, H. Velký psychologický slovník. Praha: Portál, 2010, 797 s. ISBN 978-80-7367-686-5. [2] HONZÍKOVÁ, J. Neverbální tvořivost v technické výchově. Plzeň: Západočeská univerzity, 2008, 101 s. ISBN 978-80-7043-714-8. [3] KNAUS, W. J. The procrastination workbook. Your personalized program for breaking free from the patterns that hold you back. Oakland: New Harbinger Publications, 2002, 184 s. ISBN 978-15-7224-295-1. [4] PASSIG, K. – LOBO, S. Odložím to na zítra. Praha: Portál, 2010, 187 s. ISBN 978-80-7367- 666-7. [5] PISOŇOVÁ, M. Teória a prax efektívneho sebariadenia. Nitra: Pedagogická fakulta UKF, 2009, 141s. ISBN 978-80-8094-469-8. [6] SILVER, M. – SABINI, J. Procrastinating. In Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior. 1981/2, vol. 11, iss. 2, s. 207-221. (Abstract. Electronic version [7] VETEŠKA, J. Kompetence ve vzdělávání. Praha: Univerzita Jana Amose Komenského, 2010, 200 s. ISBN978-80-86723-98-3.