Extracurricular Time Allocation Of Undergraduate And Its Influence On Academic Achievement

Time is scarce resource in modern society,and it carries the trajectory of all social and personal development.The extracurricular time allocation of undergraduates is the vital dimension of their learning experience,and it is very important to their academic achievement and all-round development.This research focuses on the current status,characteristics and influencing factors of undergraduates' extracurricular time allocation,and further explores its influence on their academic achievement.This study adopted the hybrid research method.In the quantitative part of the study,an extensive survey was conducted among university students in China,and 1032 valid questionnaires were obtained.Through the analysis of the data,it finds the characteristics and influencing factors of undergraduates' extracurricular time allocation,and the mechanism that influences their academic achievement.On the basis of that,through semi-structured interviews with 30 college students,we directly obtained their views on the motivation,time experience and subjective gains of different extracurricular time investment,and further to understand the social significance of their time in extracurricular participation.The main research conclusions are as follows:Firstly,the extracurricular study time of undergraduates(24.15 hours per week)is insufficient,which is still far from the ideal amount.(class: extracurricular study time ? 1:2)Moreover,the extracurricular study time for interest is to be increased urgently.(5.64 hours per week)The online entertainment time is twice that of offline entertainment,and some undergraduates need to pay attention to the problem of Internet addiction.The typical characteristics of undergraduates' time allocation are as follows: boys spend significantly more extracurricular study time for interest than girls;�985� college students spend significantly more extracurricular study time for courses than others,while the extracurricular study time for exam preparation is the opposite.The time investment of extracurricular study for exam preparation,part-time and internships increases with grade.Secondly,the factors that influence the allocation of undergraduates' extracurricular time are complex and diverse.Through the establishment of a regression model,it is found that the sense of time-control and teacher-student interaction are important explanatory variables.The stronger sense of time-control,and the higher frequency of interaction with teachers,students the more time spent on extracurricular learning and less time for entertainment.Learning motivations have different effects on various extracurricular study time investment.For example,students with stronger achievement motivation devote more time to extracurricular study for exam preparation,but less time to extracurricular study for interest.Time efficacy has no significant impact on extracurricular study time,but has a significant negative impact on entertainment time.In addition,through qualitative research,it found that when allocating time,undergraduates always combine current and future advantages to make a rational choice for maximizing their time returns.Above all,peers play a vital role of time allocation.Thirdly,the extracurricular time investment and personal characteristics of undergraduates both have a significant impact on their academic achievement.On the one hand,the more extracurricular study time investment,the more knowledge they gain and the better academic performance,the entertainment time investment is just the opposite.On the other hand,in the regression model,the influence of extracurricular time investment on academic achievement becomes insignificant after adding personal characteristic variables,it indicates that the influence of personal characteristics is stronger.Specifically,time efficacy has a significant positive impact on both the self-reported gains(knowledge,ability,value)and academic performance of undergraduates.Professional interest has a significant positive impact on academic achievements except value gains.Learning motivation is an important explanatory variable of knowledge gains;learning strategy has a significant influence on ability gains.Therefore,to promote undergraduates' study,we should focus on cultivating students' professional interests,enhancing their interest motivation,deep learning strategies,time efficacy and other personal characteristics,so as to realize students' extracurricular time allocation is substantial and abundant,rather than ineffective time accumulation.Based on the above analysis,this paper puts forward three suggestions.Firstly,colleges should consider �learning quality� as the core point,the prescribed class time should be set reasonably combining with extracurricular study time so as to reserve enough time for students' extracurricular study.It's wise to enhance extracurricular study time and resolve the Internet addiction combining with the characteristics of different students.Secondly,it is necessary to enhance the the value of knowledge itself,interest and other potential benefits,and weaken the quantitative indicators,such as test scores and credits,so as to stimulate the undergraduates to actively explore knowledge and expand their extracurricular learning for interest.Last but not the least,the Teaching Development Center can assists undergraduates in their ability of time management,to meet the needs of their time planning,time control and time efficiency adjustments at any time during the semester.