FACTORS AFFECTING THE STUDY
LIFESTYLE OF FIRST YEAR CIVIL ENGINEERING STUDENTS
Abstract
Today, where everything is modernized, engineering students around the globe can be made out by great distractions on their study lifestyle. This quantitative paper aims to present a review of the factors that affect the study lifestyle of first year Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering students and their preferred environment to study. From four sections during the first semester, students who encountered different factors in studying were consulted by descriptive survey method. Through statistical analysis, findings revealed that study environment creates great impact on studying at school. Nuisance and class location are expected to be very evident. Producing distraction on the habit of studying at home is technology. Encompassing negative outcomes from multitasking ability connecting social media and gadgets while studying. Home is comfortable to study from which students can concentrate well while classroom environment is diverse from studying habits and routines. New diversions stand in the way of college degree with accelerated curriculum. The primary output of the study is its implication to the programs of student activities of the College of Engineering. For deeper and broader understanding, the researchers recommend to conduct further studies about factors affecting study lifestyle of first year civil engineering students.
. Keywords: Study Lifestyle, Home, School
Introduction
Students who are pursuing their engineering journey across the globe can be made out by their lifestyle. Study habit is the style of study and the environment which you want to study. Most of successful students achieve their success by developing and applying effective study habits. The key to becoming an effective student is learning how to study smarter, not harder. Unlike grade school, an hour of studying in a day is not enough for college(Higher Education Research Institute,2003). Study motivation and study skills show the strongest relationships with both grade point average and grades in individual assessment.
There are diverse factors that affect the students’ academic achievement and educational attainment. One of these factors are some activities called study habits which the students gained, preferred and like to do for learning at and out of school (Hotaman, 2009). Oluwatimilehin and Owoyele (2012) revealed that of all the study habits’ subscales, ‘teacher consultation’ was most influential while the ‘time allocation’ exercise, concentration, no taking reading and assignments were regarded as less integral to students’ academic performances. Few instances affect a student’s performance as much as the development of productive study convention (Laguador, 2013). Study lifestyle pushes boundaries on certain areas such as work attitudes, time management, homework strategies and test-taking skills. Many study habits are taught in the classroom, but others can only be addressed at home.
Various studies give emphasis around the globe pertaining to several benefits of the effectiveness of the study habit. Global learners are preferably should be given the freedom of inclination to device their own method of solving problems rather than being forced to pick up on the professor's strategy (Felder & Silverman,1987) Recently, according to Kumar (2015) in India, the “Marks” in examination that really matters to a student when it comes to studying. Students with good study habits often get better grades in their examination. Beforehand, in the University of Michigan, to recommend a student on career goals may also influence the educational success of engineering students (Veenstra, 2008).
There are several factors affecting the concentration and focus of a student while studying. Some of these are social media, peer, noise and environment. Today, where everything is modernized, technology causes great distraction in the study lifestyle of a student. Somehow, there are many different ways of studying (Elrick, 2014). It is important to know what bothers most of the students when studying both in school and at home and for them to be aware when it comes to studying.
It is for this reason that the researchers find it necessary to conduct a study on what factors affect most of the first year Civil Engineering students’ study lifestyle and utilize their time in studying. This also focuses on the level of the factors that affects the study habits and practices of regular freshmen civil engineering students at home and in school. This study identifies the environment with great distracting factors affecting the study lifestyle of first year civil engineering students.
Methodology
This study is a quantitative research. The researchers used the descriptive-survey method. Descriptive-survey method, an appropriate for data derived from the simple observational situations, whether these are actually physical observed or observed through the use of a questionnaire or poll techniques (Costales and Zulueta, 2003).
The informants of this study were First Year Civil Engineering students of Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at the University of Southeastern Philippines, Obrero Campus. The 30 informants of CE 1-1 from four different sections during the first semester who encountered different factors in their study lifestyle were given survey questionnaire. . For valid results, a good number of sample size in a survey method is at least 30(Cohen et al., 2000).
In collecting the data, the informants were asked to answer the revised survey questionnaire which was validated by Professor Sajed S. Ingilan, research instructor. This was divided into two parts. The first part was focusing on school-related factors and the second part was focusing on home-related factors.
In finding the results, the researchers used statistical treatment. Statistical treatment was the formula in getting the mean and the percentage (see Appendix D).
Results and Discussion
This section interprets and discusses the data collected through the instrument engaged by using the descriptive survey method. Statistical tools and principles are the primary sources of the data, came from the questionnaire given to the selected First Year Civil Engineering students of the University of Southeastern Philippines.
Factors affecting the study lifestyle of first year Civil Engineering students
Table 1 shows the summary of the set of factors affecting the study lifestyle of first year civil engineering students. The results show the set of factors in school-based and home-based items with the most affecting factor on the study lifestyle of a first year civil engineering student that are to be stated in this section in terms of their weighted mean from highest to lowest affecting factor.
Table 1.1 shows the summary of the school-based factors affecting the study lifestyle of first year Civil Engineering students. The results show that the most affecting factor of the study lifestyle of the students in school is the Study Environment with the highest mean of 3.36 with the total percentage of 67.2%. It is then followed by Social Sustainability witha 3.21 weighted mean and a percentage of 64.2%, Personal Assessment with the mean of 3.12 and a total percentage of 62.4%, Time Allocation with the mean of 2.76 and a percentage of 55.2%. Teacher-related Aspect got the lowest mean of 2.42 and a percentage of 48.4%, meaning it is the least affecting factor of the study lifestyle of first year Civil Engineering students.
There are some students prefer to study in a quiet environment with less noise and free from distractions. According to the study of Dalton B.H. and Behm D.G. (2007), noise has been considered a nuisance in the society. An environment filled with noise disrupts the thought processes and mental focus of a student (Parry A., 2010). Noise does not only adversely affect task performance, but it also implies great impact on a student's study life style. In addition, several students cannot focus on studying at school because temperature bothers them and makes them uncomfortable. The room temperature should be well-ventilated for the performance of the students varies if the room temperature is unwell (Seppanen O., et al, 2006). Thus, quiet and well-ventilated Study Environment should be observed while studying.
Consequently, unconducive class location and surroundings at school are factors to be very evident to cause great distraction on a study lifestyle of first year Civil Engineering students.
Table 1.2 shows the summary of the home-related factors affecting the study lifestyle of first year Civil Engineering students. The results show that in the sets of factors, the most affecting factor on the study lifestyle of Civil Engineering students is Technology with the highest mean of 3.22 and percentage of 64.4%. It is followed by Anxiety that has a mean of 2.79 and percentage 55.8%, Place and Allotment with 2.31 mean and percentage of 46.2% and Family-Related Aspects with 2.26 mean and percentage of 45.2%. Conversely, the set of factors with the lowest impact with a mean of 1.99 and percentage of 39.8% is the peer interruption.
In 21st century, technology has become a distraction among students, which includes gadgets, social media, television and video games (Michel Howard, 2015). A study among distractions show that the main distractors are smartphones and computers from which these students obtained lower GPAs for they cannot focus on studying even within 15 minutes and then often switch on checking those distracting technologies ( Dr. Larry Rosen, 2013). The brain cannot do complex task in a certain time, and using your gadgets for games and social networks while studying is very tough as both are uses the same area of the brain which is the prefrontal cortex (Meyer,D. in Paul,A. 2013).
Environment with Great Distracting Factors for First Year Civil Engineering Students
This section accounts as to what environment mostly distracts the concentration and focus on the study lifestyle of the first year civil engineering students.
Table2. Environment with Great Distracting Factors for First Year Civil Engineering Students
Based on the results above, it showed that school is an environment with more distracting factors andstudents preferred to study at home. Home has less distraction than school because it attained lesser factors affecting the study lifestyle of first year civil engineering students. As shown in the table, the school environment had greater factor of 54.69% than the home environment which had 45.31% which means that the school environment obtained the greater impact on the factor that affects study habits among first year civil engineering students.
Unlike school which people are coming and going in the library, talking and librarians restocking books may also distract the students who were studying (Education Corner, 2016). The noise made by the people in the library may caught the attention of the students who were studying.
Classroom environment is critical in learning. Various studies have shown the distraction of noise upon studying within the classroom (Christian School Products, 2010). Sometimes classmates are very talkative whenever the students are serious in studying. Therefore, sometimes, students should study less in school because crowded area may distract the student’s concentration.
Conclusion
This study focused on the affecting factors in the study lifestyle of the freshmen civil engineering students. Factors were discussed pertaining to affect the concentration and focus of a student when it comes to studying. Findings of this study revealed that studying at school with a total percentage of 54.69% creates high impact on the environment, an implication for having great distractions while studying. On the other hand, students preferred to study at home because it only attained a total percentage of 45.31%, which means home as an effective environment for studying establishes less interruptions.
This descriptive paper served as a reference material to the students who are taking Bachelor of BSCE in acquiring appropriate environment and strategies for studying; it is also engaged to several students who are experiencing struggles in study techniques. This study conceded students’ awareness for identifying the possible reasons for poor erudition. The primary output of the study is its implication to the programs of student activities of the College of Engineering.
New diversions stand in the way of college degree with accelerated curriculum. The key towards becoming an effective student is not by merely cramming or studying longer, yet it is a lifestyle on studying smarter. Thus, for deeper and profound understanding, the researchers recommend to conduct further studies about factors affecting the study lifestyle of first year Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering students.
References
Alos, S., Caranto, T. & David, J.J. (2015). Factors Affecting the Academic Performance of the
Student Nurses of BSU. International Journal of Nursing Science. Accessed January 22, 2015. Retrieved from http://article.sapub.org/10.5923.j.nursing.20150502.04.html#Sec2
Osa-Edoh, G.I. &Alutu, A.N.G. (2012). A Survey of Students Study Habits in Selected
Secondary Schools: Implication for Counselling. Maxwell Scientific Organization. Accessed Feb 3, 2016, from http://maxwellsci.com/print/crjss/v4-228-234.pdf
Oluwatimilehin, J.T.B. and Owoyele, J.W. (2012). Study Habits and Academic Achievement in
Core Subjects among Junior Secondary School Students in Ondo State, Nigeria, Bulgarian Journal of Science and Education Policy 6(1): 155-169.
Hotaman, Davut (2009). The research of the influence of some individual variables on the
students’ study habits independently, with a partner, International Journal of Human Sciences, 6 (1): 528-546.
Amanda, P.K., Anna, S.K (2009). Revisiting the time management issues of university students.
Accessed Feb 03, 2016, from http://www.iutconference.org/pdf/Anna.pdf
Dalton, B. &Behm, D. (2007). Effects of noise and music on human and task performance
: A systematic review. IOS Press. Accessed March 4, 2016, from http://www.blogs.uoregon.edu/
Howard, M. (2015). Distracted by Technology: Focusing Attention on Homework. In
http://www.beyondbooksmart.com. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
Elrick, Laureen. (2014). Preparing for Finals: 11 Uncommon Study Habits of Straight-
A Students. Available at www.rasmussen.edu/student-life/blogs. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
Onuoha, U.O &Subair, M. (2013). Study habits of undergraduate students in selected federal
universities in South-west Nigeria. International Research Journals. Accessed on Jan 22, 2016 https://www.interesjournals.org
Veenstra, C. (2008). What’s on Our Students’ Minds.Divisionof Student
Affairs at the University of Michigan. Available at http://goo.gl/CXYrpY. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
Stathyan. (2012). 7 Habits of Engineering Student. Accessed on January 25, 2016
http://www.indiastudychannel.com/resources/149717-Habits-Engineering-Student.aspx
Kumar, S. (2015). Study Habits Of An Undergraduate Students. International Journal of
Education and Information Studies. Accessed January 18, 2016 http://www.ripublication.com/ijeisv1n1/ijeisv5n1_02.pdf
Research on Study Habits- Research Paper on Study Habits. (2012).
In www.coursehero.com.Accessed on January 25, 2016, from https://www.coursehero.com/file/9680993/Research-on-Study-Habits/
Education Corner. (2016). Finding a Good Place to Study.Retrieved March 10, 2016, from http://www.educationcorner.com/study-location.html.
Christian School Products. (2015). Creating an Environment Conducive to Learning. This information is courtesy of Ergo In Demand http://www.ergoindemand.com. Accessed on March 10, 2016.
Rossen, L. (2013). Helping Your Children Study Amidst Distracting Technologies. The Blog. Retrieved on March 11, 2016, from www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-larry-rosen/.
Felder, R. & Silverman, L. (1987) Learning Styles: a systematic and critical review. Retrieved Jan 19, 2016, from https://www.academia.edu/1597391/
ABOUT ME
Laurice Fe Marie D. Vivar, 17, is currently taking up Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at the University of Southeastern Philippines, Obrero, Davao City.
She spent her secondary level at Nieves Villarica National High School, Samal Island, Davao Del Norte and graduated as Third Honorable mention. Her research interest includes constructing infrastructural buildings on local and industrialized areas and strong foundations for creating bridge support beams.
Laurice Fe Marie D. Vivar
ABOUT ME
Laurice Fe Marie D. Vivar, 17, is currently taking up Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at the University of Southeastern Philippines, Obrero, Davao City.
She spent her secondary level at Nieves Villarica National High School, Samal Island, Davao Del Norte and graduated as Third Honorable mention. Her research interest includes constructing infrastructural buildings on local and industrialized areas and strong foundations for creating bridge support beams.
Laurice Fe Marie D. Vivar
ABOUT ME
Joana Mae V. Ausa, 17, is currently taking up Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at the University of Southeastern Philippines, Obrero, Davao City.
She spent her secondary years at Sagayen National High School, Sagayen, Asuncion, Davao del Norte as a Class Salutatorian. Her research interest includes uncommon model of building with better structure than today, adoption of the advancement of other countries’ engineers and economic related studies.
Joana Mae V. Ausa
ABOUT ME
Alejo Rey R. Magsipoc, 17, is currently taking up Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at the University of Southeastern Philippines, Obrero, Davao City.
He spent his secondary years at Assumption College of Davao and graduated as an Academic Honoree. His research interest includes the provision of improvised apparatus in modernizing a wide-array of bridges and highly constructed infrastructure.
Alejo Rey R. Magsipoc
ABOUT ME
Feron Jay B. Juan, 17, is currently taking up Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at the University of Southeastern Philippines, Obrero, Davao City.
He spent his secondary years at Sagayen National High School, Sagayen, Asuncion, Davao del Norte and received Academic Excellence as a Valedictorian. His research interestincludes infrastructural avant-garde framework model and the efficiency of building infrastructures on a country’s progress worldwide.
Feron Jay B. Juan
ABOUT ME
Fernan P. Fresco, 17, is currently taking up Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at the University of Southeastern Philippines, Obrero, Davao City.
He spent his secondary years at Tulunan National High School, Tulunan, NorthCotabato and attained as the Third Honorable Mention. His research interest includes rural industrialization advancement and wide and profound range ideas of foundation.
Fernan P. Fresco