How Time Management Skills Can Effect Educational Achievement

Time management is very important and it may actually affect individual’s overall performance and achievements. However, all of these are related by how individuals manage their time to suit their daily living or to make it flow steadily with their routines. Conducive settings and environment will surely promote positive outcomes to the students, besides having good lectures given by their lecturers. Nevertheless, students’ time management can be considered as one of the aspect that can move a student to be a good student. A good time management is vital for students to excel. However, some of the students do not have a good time management skills that has negatively affect their life and their study. The usage of time by students in higher education institutions is related to their daily routines and activities. Students’ time management can also affect stress level of students as they need to cope with their tasks and their personal errands.

In educational institutions of Malaysia, time management has a role in determining how the students perform. This includes the students who are specializing in the teaching profession. Teaching profession is one of numerous professions accepted widely throughout the whole world. Due to this particular reason, higher learning institutions all around the world nowadays provide courses which either closely or directly related to the teaching profession. The learning institutions in Malaysia are not excluded. Here in Malaysia, higher learning institution provides educational courses in various fields of study. Many learning institutions have their own Faculty of Education to cater the needs and the students to further their studies in this particular field. Among these universities are Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI), Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Universitit Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM),Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM).

The students who are undergoing the courses under the Faculty of Education are being exposed to what they should know and prepare for the educational field besides the knowledge that they gain during class. All of the students are being trained in improving both their knowledge and also their soft skills. However, all of the students do not have the same way of managing their time. This may have an effect both on their academic and social life.

In order to determine how students manage their time, a study need to be carried out among students who are taking the B. Ed. in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) programme at the Faculty of Education, UiTM Shah Alam. This study is specifically for Part 8 or final semester students who are currently studying under the TESL programme.

Statement of the Problem.

Students in every university are different from one another, especially in the way they manage their time. The way of managing time for each individual is different in UiTM even though the courses taken are the same. Some of the students are even studying in the same class. Some class will have the session of a particular subject in the morning and some maybe having it in the afternoon or even later in the evening. The time allocation of the class may affect the students’ time managements. In other words, students manage their time to fit their needs and most of them manage their time by prioritizing on what they want to do, rather than what they need to do. This results in the difficulties of the students in performing their tasks based on what they planned. Thus, it is necessary to carry out a study in order to determine how students manage their time, and how it affects their studies.

A study need to be conducted to find out how the students manage their time throughout their period of study and how it may affect their studies. The students are learning according to the timetable provided by the faculty that may or may not interrupt their common daily activities. The students have different ways to manage their time to cater to their study plan. This study is conducted to identify part 8 TESL students of UiTM time management and how it affects their studies.

Research Objectives

The main objective of the research is to determine the ways part eight B.Ed.TESL (Hons) students in the Faculty of Education, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Section 17 Shah Alam, manage their time.

The objectives of this research are as stated below:

1.2.1 To know how the students manage their time and their daily routine during their duration of study.

This is mainly to investigate how students manage their time throughout their study which includes time for both academic and personal activities.

1.2.2 To investigate in what way time management affects their studies and performance.

To discover how does students’ way of managing time affects their studies and their performance.

1.3 Research Questions

This research is intended to answer the following questions:

1.3.1. How do the part 8 B.Ed. TESL students manage their time during their period of study?

1.3.2. How do they cope with academic workload during their study?

1.4.3. Do they have adequate time for social activities?

1.4 Significance of Study

The significances of this study are:

1.4.1 To determine how part 8 B.Ed. TESL students of UiTM manage their time during their period of study, including on how they manage their time for academic activities and time for socializing. This can be looked on how part 8 B.Ed. TESL students make arrangement of their time, in which can be related on how they divide the time for academic purposes and also the time for their social needs. This study will discover how part 8 B.Ed. TESL students of UiTM manage their time to suit their need as students.

1.4.2 To raise the awareness of part 8 B.Ed. TESL students of UiTM on how they manage and spend time for their routines as students. The study is important for both students and the Faculty. It will bring benefits to the students who are not aware of how they spend or manage their time. The data collected in this study can be used as a guideline to the students to prepare a better way to lead their life or on how to manage their time properly. This also will help the students to make better time management for their academic and social life.

1.4.3 To enable the university to organize activities related to time management skill and self-improvisations, in order to enhance the students time management both during and after their classes. The Faculty may also use the data collected to carry out activities related to time management in order to improve whatever that should be improved about their time management. The students may also make necessary changes on how they spend their time or reschedule their daily routine in order to suit their needs or even to increase their performance in study.

1.5 Limitation of the Study

The limitation in this study is on the number of the respondents. For this study, it would not be possible to obtain the information or data from all TESL students of UiTM. Due to that, the sample has been limited to part 8 B.Ed. TESL students of UiTM in Section 17, Shah Alam, Selangor only.

1.6 Definition of Terms

Several terms will be used throughout this study. These terms are interrelated to one another and are used especially when referring to the subjects and the study done. The terms used may be different in meaning.

1.6.1 Time: According to Merriam-Webster Collegiate dictionary, 11th Edition; time is defined as “the measured or measurable period during which an action, process, or condition exist or continues”. Time in this research refers to the activities of part 8 TESL students of UiTM..

1.6.2 Management: According to Collin’s Cobuild Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary, New Edition 5th (2006), management carries the meaning on the way people control different parts of their life.

1.6.3 Time Management: Based on the definition of time and management given above, time management can be said as the way of how individuals control their time throughout their daily life. In this study, throughout their daily life refers to time management applies to the period when part 8 students are studying at UiTM section 17, Shah Alam.