Explaining procrastination among high school students: A grounded theory study

Subject Areas : Research in Curriculum Planning

Saeed  Garaaghaji ¹ (PhD Candidate of Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran.)
Shahram  Vahedi ² (Professor of Department of Education, Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran.)
Eskandar  Fathi Azar ³ (Professor of Department of Education, Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran.)
Yousef  Adib ⁴ (Professor of Department of Education, Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran.)

Received: 2017-05-19 Accepted : 2018-07-10 Published : 2019-03-21

Keywords: Academic Procrastination, Conceptual Model, Grounded theory, Students,

Abstract :

Academic Procrastination is one of the most common phenomena among students. Several factors associated with academic procrastination. The current study aimed to design a conceptual model of academic procrastination based on the immediate experiences of the students involved in this phenomenon. The research methodology was qualitative, grounded theory. Participants in the study were 30 high school students who were selected from five districts of Tabriz by purposeful and theoretical sampling method. Semi-structured interview method was used to collecting data. Analyzing data was performed on Corbin and Strauss (2008) model. The results of research identified 33 sub-themes and 12 main themes. The core category extracted from the themes, was the instrumental attitude toward learning. Extracted themes based on areas of the paradigm model assigned to context, process and consequence. Conditional-consequential matrix and conceptual model were drawn and then, factors related to academic procrastination and how they interact with each other was determined. The overall result of the present study was that the instrumental attitude to learning plays a mediate role between the context and the process factors. contextual factors are due to the instrumental attitude to learning as well as the process factors include poor planning, weakness in time management and low mindfulness lead to procrastination. The delay in doing the assignment has educational and emotional consequences.

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