Research Progress

Topic: Discussing College Students' Study Habits


Research Question:

I will be discussing some things that students go through in college regarding exams and papers. Basically I will be finding different strategies and opinions from different college students. The question I would hope to analyze is finding out different ways to improve scores in papers and exams.


Interview Protocol:

I interviewed one student on campus that gave good answers to the questions. Right now I'm preparing to write it down verbatim by listening to the recording.


Surveys:

I handed out ten surveys to an equal amount of males and females. Basically I sorted out the majors between education, communication, English, social science, and science/mathematics. One of each major from both genders filled out the surveys. Which means about five females and five males. From the results, I plan to compare the answers to discuss the similarities and differences of how males and females are with exams and papers.


Survey consists of:

What are your hobbies?

 Does your major give more papers or exams?

 

1. Do you study often?

  If yes.....

 - How many hours do you study a day?

 - How many hours do you study per week?

 - Do you find it useful?

 - How many hours of sleep do you get on average per day?

 

If no.....

 - Do you often procrastinate?

 - How many hours do you study prior to an exam?

 - Do you still get good results?

 - How many hours of sleep do you get on average per day?

 

2. Do you prefer writing papers or taking exams?

  If Papers....

- How many days does it take for you to complete an average paper (3 to 5 pages)?

- Do you work on the paper the day it's given or closer to the day it's due?

- Are you easily distracted when writing papers?

- Do you leave music or the television on when you write?

- Do you write papers alone or with another person?

 - Do you do peer reviews for your papers before submitting?

 - Do you see yourself as a clutch writer (Ability to write at the last minute)?

 - Do you pull all-nighters?

 

If Exams....

 - How many hours do you study prior to an exam?

 - Do you cram often?

 - Are you easily distracted when studying?

 - Do you study while listening to music? Do you find it helpful?

 - Do you prefer to study alone or with groups?

 - How many hours do you sleep prior to the day of the exam?

 

Discussing Strategies

 - Do you often ask your professor for feedback?

 - Do you find studying a few days prior to the exam effective?

 - Where is your ideal place to study?

 - Is music or other background sounds soothing or distracting to you?

 - Is it better to study during the day or at night?

 - Is it overall better to work alone or in groups?

 

 What advice would you give to people for preparation regarding papers and exams?

 

 

Participant Observation:

 

This style is pretty interesting. All I'm going to do is observe students in class and see how they act towards exam days and paper days.

 

 

Goals:

My goal is to collect the data from different genders and find out their perceptions towards exams and papers and compare. In addition, finding out what may lead to increased or decrease in scores.