{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/52984"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/52984","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Evaluating Active Interventions to Reduce Student Procrastination","abstract":"Procrastination is a pervasive problem in education. In computer science, procrastination and lack of necessary time management skills to complete programming projects are viewed as primary causes of student attrition. The most effective techniques known to reduce procrastination are resource-intensive and do not scale well to large classrooms. In this thesis, we examine three course interventions designed to both reduce procrastination and be scalable for large classrooms. Reflective writing assignments require students to reflect on their time management choices and how these choices impact their classroom performance. Schedule sheets force students to plan out their work on an assignment. E-mail alerts inform students of their current progress as they work on their projects, and provide ideas on improving their work behavior if their progress is found to be unsatisfactory. We implemented these interventions in a junior-level course on data structures. The study was conducted over two semesters and 330 students agreed to participate in the study. Data collected from these students formed the basis of our analysis of the interventions. We found a statistically significant relationship between the time a project was completed and the quality of that work, with late work being of lower quality. We also found that the e-mail alert intervention had a statistically significant effect on reducing the number of late submissions. This result occurred despite students responded negatively to the treatment.","abstract_html":"Procrastination is a pervasive problem in education. In computer science, procrastination and lack of necessary time management skills to complete programming projects are viewed as primary causes of student attrition. The most effective techniques known to reduce procrastination are resource-intensive and do not scale well to large classrooms. In this thesis, we examine three course interventions designed to both reduce procrastination and be scalable for large classrooms. Reflective writing assignments require students to reflect on their time management choices and how these choices impact their classroom performance. Schedule sheets force students to plan out their work on an assignment. E-mail alerts inform students of their current progress as they work on their projects, and provide ideas on improving their work behavior if their progress is found to be unsatisfactory. We implemented these interventions in a junior-level course on data structures. The study was conducted over two semesters and 330 students agreed to participate in the study. Data collected from these students formed the basis of our analysis of the interventions. We found a statistically significant relationship between the time a project was completed and the quality of that work, with late work being of lower quality. We also found that the e-mail alert intervention had a statistically significant effect on reducing the number of late submissions. This result occurred despite students responded negatively to the treatment.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Martin, Joshua Deckert"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Computer Science and Applications","degree_department":"Computer Science","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Edwards, Stephen H."],"committee_members":["Perez-Quinonez, Manuel A.","Shaffer, Clifford A."],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-06-21","date_published":"2015-06-21","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:31Z","subjects":["procrastination","self-regulation","Self-efficacy","scheduling","schedule sheets","reflective writing","active learning","e-mail alerts"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:5175"],"render_values":[{"text":"vt_gsexam:5175","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/52984","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Edwards, Stephen H."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Perez-Quinonez, Manuel A.","Shaffer, Clifford A."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Computer Science"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Martin, Joshua Deckert"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2015-06-22T08:00:30Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2015-06-22T08:00:30Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2015-06-21"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Computer Science and Applications"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["procrastination","self-regulation","Self-efficacy","scheduling","schedule sheets","reflective writing","active learning","e-mail alerts"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:5175"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/52984"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Procrastination is a pervasive problem in education. In computer science, procrastination and lack of necessary time management skills to complete programming projects are viewed as primary causes of student attrition. The most effective techniques known to reduce procrastination are resource-intensive and do not scale well to large classrooms. In this thesis, we examine three course interventions designed to both reduce procrastination and be scalable for large classrooms. Reflective writing assignments require students to reflect on their time management choices and how these choices impact their classroom performance. Schedule sheets force students to plan out their work on an assignment. E-mail alerts inform students of their current progress as they work on their projects, and provide ideas on improving their work behavior if their progress is found to be unsatisfactory. We implemented these interventions in a junior-level course on data structures. The study was conducted over two semesters and 330 students agreed to participate in the study. Data collected from these students formed the basis of our analysis of the interventions. We found a statistically significant relationship between the time a project was completed and the quality of that work, with late work being of lower quality. We also found that the e-mail alert intervention had a statistically significant effect on reducing the number of late submissions. This result occurred despite students responded negatively to the treatment."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["ETD"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Evaluating Active Interventions to Reduce Student Procrastination"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Edwards, Stephen H."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Perez-Quinonez, Manuel A.","Shaffer, Clifford A."],"dc:contributor.department":["Computer Science"],"dc:creator":["Martin, Joshua Deckert"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2015-06-22T08:00:30Z"],"dc:date.available":["2015-06-22T08:00:30Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2015-06-21"],"dc:description.abstract":["Procrastination is a pervasive problem in education. In computer science, procrastination and lack of necessary time management skills to complete programming projects are viewed as primary causes of student attrition. The most effective techniques known to reduce procrastination are resource-intensive and do not scale well to large classrooms. In this thesis, we examine three course interventions designed to both reduce procrastination and be scalable for large classrooms. Reflective writing assignments require students to reflect on their time management choices and how these choices impact their classroom performance. Schedule sheets force students to plan out their work on an assignment. E-mail alerts inform students of their current progress as they work on their projects, and provide ideas on improving their work behavior if their progress is found to be unsatisfactory. We implemented these interventions in a junior-level course on data structures. The study was conducted over two semesters and 330 students agreed to participate in the study. Data collected from these students formed the basis of our analysis of the interventions. We found a statistically significant relationship between the time a project was completed and the quality of that work, with late work being of lower quality. We also found that the e-mail alert intervention had a statistically significant effect on reducing the number of late submissions. This result occurred despite students responded negatively to the treatment."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Science"],"dc:format.medium":["ETD"],"dc:identifier.other":["vt_gsexam:5175"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/52984"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["procrastination","self-regulation","Self-efficacy","scheduling","schedule sheets","reflective writing","active learning","e-mail alerts"],"dc:title":["Evaluating Active Interventions to Reduce Student Procrastination"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Computer Science and Applications"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:31Z"}