The Freshman's Use of Time

AS EVERY college official knows, the average Freshman is a busy person. Just how busy he is and how he uses his time are matters for serious consideration. As teachers, we measure his success or failure upon the basis of what we see of him in the classroom and in the laboratory, but his behavior there most certainly is influenced to a considerable degree by the demands made upon his time by his companions, his choice of recreation, his work, the amount of sleep he gets, his financial condition, his general health, the stability of his home, the encouragement that his family may or may not give him, and a host of other factors at which we can only guess. Our knowledge of his total world is hazy and inadequate. All of the teachers of the average Freshman have contact with him for about 25 hours a week. A seven-day week is made up of I 68 hours. The use of time during the I43 hours each week when the average Freshman is not within sight and hearing of his teachers surely has some effect upon his mark-making ability. In addition to asking the amount of time spent upon school work, it is important to know how much time is devoted to other activities that may have a bearing upon his efficiency as measured by term marks. We have been concerned with the results from intelligence tests, measures of special aptitude, interest analyses, evidences of psycho-neurotic tendencies, personal-history inventories, and a host of other suggestions for the better understanding of our students. The conviction is growing that we cannot hope to predict academic success by means of one or two measuring devices. We probably shall approach the truth, as we perfect many tools for obtaining reliable records on individual students, and learn to interpret the results in terms of total reactions. There is room for the description of one more device, a record form, designed for obtaining data on student use of time. Such a device is neither new nor unique. It is the outcome of three years' experimentation with college Freshmen. It has proved helpful in dealing with many questions that arise while consulting with individual students

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• Factors affecting college grades

  Diane Harris•Psychological Bulletin•1940

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