Research Proposal

University Students & Studying

At the end of every semester, as exams near, there is a sense of panic in the air as university students begin to realise it is that time of the year again – time to start studying. Studying is a large part of life as a university student (University of Sydney, 2019); it helps us build on our knowledge as Communication and Media students, while also allowing us to pass our exams. As such a task is necessary for making it through this chapter of our lives, I am hoping to conduct research regarding a range of different aspects relating to studying as a university student. Such research is both relevant and achievable in that almost everyone studies, and each person has their own story to tell. Based on the results I received from my first pole on Twitter, regarding whether students were formally taught how to study or not, almost all students from the BCM course that voted, stated that no, they had never been taught how to study. From this, I can conclude that there is a variety of ways in which people learn their content, rather than just one formularised way, and my curiosity is how exactly do these students study…

I intend to pose questions to my fellow students, such as, how do you study? What materials do you use? Music or dead silence? Out loud or in your head? Where do you study? How long do you study for? How many weeks prior to exams do you start studying? And most importantly, have different methods of study worked better, and have they consequently led to higher marks? Personally, I study by reading my notes off my laptop, taken from lectures, tutorials, and readings, out loud – as if I am teaching someone else the content. I do so in my quiet bedroom, usually allocating an hour per subject, and start about three weeks before exams. I was never been taught this method, but it has been a very successful way to study for me.

Research is timely when it is based on ongoing or recently completed research, (Raynald et al, 2006) and the topic of studying whilst at university is an ongoing discussion. Research in this area has been conducted for many years; when assessing whether this topic was worth looking into, I discovered an article, which focused on study habits at a higher education level. Entwistle, Thompson, and Wilson (1974) researched the correlation between academic performance and study habits, which is an aspect of the topic that I am most interested in. Similarly, Yip’s (2009) article looks at the difference between high and low academic achieving university students, while also focusing on the strategies used to achieve such high, or low, marks. More recently, in their article, Gallarado-Echenique, Bullen, and Marqués-Molías (2016) take a deep dive into the study habits of first-year university students, and how technology has improved the way people can study. Researching more in the field of study habits in themselves, Sikorova, Cervenkova, Vaclavic, and Barot (2020) looked at the strategies of university students in terms of how, and what study resources are used. In 2017, Numan, and Hasan conducted research on the effects of study habits on test anxiety and academic achievement in undergraduate students, which focused on the idea that people who are more well prepared for exams are more likely to stress less and do better overall.

And so, my intended research topic regarding studying as a university student, is relevant as it is an essential part of higher education, and most, if not all, students do some form of study during this period of their lives. Such a research topic is achievable as most students in the BCM course have experience with studying, and so information will be readily available. Moreover, my research topic is timely in that it has been researched for many years, and based on the brief research I conducted on the subject, there is a clear discussion surrounding the study habits and methods of undergraduate students, and how such methods relate to the success of the student.  

(Twenty-Forth of March 2020)

References

Entwistle, NJ, Thompson, J & Wilson, JD 1974, ‘Motivation and Study Habits’, Higher Education, vol. 3, no.1, pp. 379-396.

Gallardo-Echenique, E, Bullen, M & Marqués-Molías, L 2016, ‘Student Communication and Study Habits of First-Year Unievrsity Students in the Digital Era’, Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 1-21.

Numan, A & Hasan, SS 2017, ‘Effect of Study Habits on Test Anxiety and Academic Achievement of Undergraduate Students’, Journal of Research and Reflections in Education, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 1-14.

Raynald, P, Tousignant, P, Roberge, D, Lamarche, P, Reinharz, D, Larouche, D, Beaulne, G & Lesage, D 2006, ‘The Research Collective: A Tool for Producing Timely, Context-linked Research Syntheses’, Health Policy, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 58-75, viewed 22 March 2020, <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2585353/>

Sikorova, Z, Cervenkova, I, Valclavic, M & Barot, T 2020, ‘University Students’ Study Habits Related to the Use of Study Resources’, International Association for Research on Textbooks and Educational Media, vol. 11, no. 2.

University of Sydney, 2019, Preparing for Exams, website, University of Sydney, viewed 23 March 2020, <https://www.sydney.edu.au/students/preparing-for-exams.html>

Yip, MCW. 2009, ‘Differences Between High and Low Academic Achieving University Students in Learning and Study Strategies: A Further Investigation’, Educational Research and Evaluation, vol. 15, no. 6, pp. 561-570.