Causes for procrastination in a unique educational workplace

Abstract

Teachers in hospitals are a unique phenomenon. Their students are sick, hospitalized children with a range of physical, emotional, and cognitive needs. Teachers are expected to be dynamic, flexible, creative, open-minded, and efficient to function in the most appropriate manner. However, a recent study showed that these teachers tend to procrastinate on some of the most common tasks that teachers perform on a daily basis in the regular school system. The present study was an initial investigation into the reasons for procrastination in teachers who work in two hospitals in Israel. Thirty-two teachers were interviewed. The findings indicated that the primary reason for procrastination among teachers in the hospital was professional role ambiguity, with emotional factors and situational determinants which were identified. Future research should further explore reasons for procrastination in the workplace, in general, and its association with professional role ambiguity specifically.     

Prediction and job-related outcomes of procrastination in the workplace

Abstract

In the current study, we examined whether the impact of the Big Five on procrastination in an organizational context is similar to that in academic settings, and examined the role of dis-regulation of anxiety as a potential moderator of these relationships. One hundred and seven Israeli employees participated in the study. The results showed that agreeableness and conscientiousness were negatively associated with procrastination, while neuroticism was positively associated with procrastination in the workplace. Moreover, the findings supported the hypothesis that dis-regulation of anxiety moderates the relationships between personality traits and workplace procrastination. These findings suggest that the link between personality traits and workplace procrastination is not stable, is affected by different contexts, and interacts with other personality characteristics (specifically, dis-regulation of anxiety).     

The role of individual differences in understanding and predicting workplace safety

While U.S. colleges and universities ponder their mission, vision, values, and virtues, researchers at a large, urban, Catholic, patron-identity university actively engaged in empirical assessments of “who we say we are.” In this themed issue, faculty, undergraduate, and graduate students are a research team engaged in quantitative and qualitative analysis of their school's mission identity and mission-driven activities. Results from several sets of studies around student perceptions and impact of mission are presented and discussed. School administrators and those interested in community engagement impacts on students may find these articles useful and informative.     

Academic procrastination and feelings toward procrastination in LD and non-LD students: Preliminary insights for future intervention

ABSTRACT

Academic procrastination is a prevalent behavior that negatively influences students’ performance and well-being. The growing number of students with learning disabilities (LD) in higher education communities leads to the need to study and address academic procrastination in this unique population of students and to develop ways to prevent and intervene. The present study examined the difference in academic procrastination between LD, non-LD, and supported LD college students in Israel. Findings indicated a significant difference between the three groups, both in academic procrastination and in the desire to change this behavior. Interestingly, supported LD students were similar to non-LD students in all parameters of academic procrastination; however, they expressed less desire to change this behavior than unsupported LD students. These findings highlight the effect of general academic support on academic procrastination in LD students. Future studies will need to further explore the specific elements of support that most contribute to the reduction of academic procrastination in LD students. Specific support programs for academic procrastination in LD students who take into account the findings of these future studies can then be developed and studied.     

Academic interventions for academic procrastination: A review of the literature

ABSTRACT

Procrastination is a widespread phenomenon in academic settings. It has been studied from many different theoretical angles, and a variety of causes and consequences have been suggested. Recent studies support the notion that academic procrastination can be seen from a situational perspective and as a failure in learning self-regulation. It suggests that interventions should address situational as well as deficits in self-regulation to help students overcome their procrastinating tendencies. The present review examined the recent literature on causes and consequences of academic procrastination and the limited number of studies of academic interventions for academic procrastination. Findings of this review strengthen the need to further study the topic of academic interventions for academic procrastination and to develop effective interventions. At the end of this review, several suggestions for the development of academic interventions are outlined.     

Academic procrastination and academic performance: An initial basis for intervention

ABSTRACT

Academic procrastination is a prevalent phenomenon with a range of negative outcomes. Many studies focused on causes and correlates of academic procrastination; however, the study of interventions for academic procrastination is scarce. The present study is an initial effort to study the relationship between academic procrastination, online course participation, and achievement, as a basis for developing an intervention for academic procrastination. Findings indicated that studying procrastination was negatively associated with final exam grade as well as with the three online course participation measures. Final exam grade was positively associated with two of the online course participation measures, and they positively correlated with each other. In addition, results indicated that studying procrastination, in combination with online course participation measures, explained about 50% of variance in final exam’s grade. Frequency of activities in course Web site had the strongest positive effect on final exam’s grade.

These findings strengthen the notion that studying procrastination is an impediment to students’ academic performance and outcomes and clarifies the need to develop and study academic interventions for academic procrastination as a means to decrease its prevalence in academic settings.     

I'll Do It,Later China's netizens find a novel way to cope with chronic procrastination

Zhao Yixin never thought she was actually suffering from a disease.She hadn't even come across the word--procrastination. As a senior student at Beijing Union University,Zhao has been researching and writing her graduate essay for almost half a year but hasn't succeeded in finishing even half of it. "I know I always put off tasks so I started earlier than other students," Zhao said."But I still haven't managed to finish it while most of my classmates already completed the essay." Zhao said that her habit of putting off tasks can be dated back to primary school years,when she didn't want to do her homework and always put it off to late night."I sat at the desk all the time but my mind couldn't concentrate," Zhao said."I kept making promises to myself that I'll do the homework in 10 minutes,but after many 10 minutes,I still couldn't start.I don't think I am the only one in my class acting like this.It seems that we are all like this when we chat about our homework."     

Towards a Working Definition of Mental Health

No abstract available for this article.     

Towards a Greener,Cleaner Liaocheng

LIAOCHENG in western Shan-dong Province is a famed city of history and culture dating back over 2,500 years, and it is     

结合:以科学态度对待马克思主义的正道

伟大的延安整风运动已经过去了整整 6 0年。 6 0年前这场全党范围的普遍的马克思主义教育运动 ,对于打破“左”倾教条主义的思想桎梏从而进一步解放全党的思想 ,对于提高全党马克思主义的思想认识水平进而确立毛泽东思想对中国共产党和中国革命的指导地位 ,对于团结全党全军并领导全国人民夺取抗日战争乃至新民主主义革命的最后胜利 ,均起着重大而深远的历史影响。在全党深入学习江泽民同志“七一”讲话精神 ,以认真贯彻“三个代表”思想要求的实际行动迎接党的十六大召开的今天 ,再度回顾与思索延安整风运动留下的深刻历史经验 ,对于我们以求实的、科学的态度对待马克思主义 ,求实地、科学地探索与总结中国改革开放实践中遇到的新问题、新经验 ,与时俱进地推动马克思主义的理论创新 ,都将是大有裨益的。为此 ,本刊开设专栏发表这组纪念性的理论文稿。     

Heading Towards a Republic——TV Serial Sparks Controversy

THE 59-part historical TVserial Heading Towards aRepublic took four yearsand 40 million yuan tomake.Screened on prime timeCCTV-1 in mid-April when theSARS epidemic in Beijing was atits peak,the serial achieved highratings.The widespread contro-versy it provoked,however,resulted in its being taken off.     

Making a Legiti Chinese Enterprises Work Towards Credibility

THE recent Enron and Arthur Andersen financial scandals in the United States,KPMG LLP‘s involvement in the Xerox case, Ernst & Young‘s being charged by the US Securities and Exchange     

Introduction: shifting meanings of home

The studies and narratives collected in this special volume acknowledge "home" as a complex, ambiguous notion and reality. The contributors pay tribute to different ways of experiencing home, and to multiple connections to place and time. They illustrate how home is a social edifice, how it embodies different meanings and values, how it demarcates individual and social or national identities, and how a longing for home permeates experiences of homelessness as well as cultural, spatial, linguistic, and economic transitions.     

Introduction: China,Ltd

The study of Chinese nationalism is very popular—both in China and the West. This article introduces a special section of seven articles (four of which are in this issue) on ‘The Limits of Chinese Nationalism’, arguing that our understanding of nationalism in China is problematic. This special section aims to explore the limits of many of the statements about Chinese nationalism that have now become ‘common sense’: the rise of Chinese nationalism, nationalism filling an ideological vacuum, elites manipulating nationalism to gain legitimacy, and so on. Using critical IR theory this Introduction explores the concept of limits to argue that borders in China are not just territorial, but cultural, economic and thus political. It seeks to change the objective of our discussion of Chinese nationalism from seeking an Answer—either as a measure of the objective nature of Chinese nationalism or as a moral judgment of it as good or evil—to seeing ‘nationalism’ as a provocation which pushes us to think about China and identity in a host of different and productive ways.     

“县政”视角的引入：一个学术史的回顾

县政改革逐步纳入到学者的研究视野,是国家与学术在地方政治生态中互动的结果。政治学研究重心下沉到非国家政治领域的农村社会,继而又在研究中提升其视角,从村庄到乡镇,进而到关注县政,呈现出一种层层递进、渐次扩大的学术理路。本文在对该段学术史的宏观脉络进行梳理的基础上,以国家与学术的互动为切入点,探讨学术在国家话语影响下的运作形态,以及县政改革被学者忽视,而后又逐渐引起重视的深层次原因。     

Introduction: The DPP in power

The transition of power from the KMT to the DPP in Taiwan has not been easy. Instead of bringing in a new way of thinking, it is noted that ideology is too ingrained for the new ruling party to make a break from it. Instead of providing a new form of governance, the DPP has proved to be inexperienced at coping with the intricacies of a modern democratic polity. Rather than building new state-civil society relations, the DPP has been unable to expand its outreach to segments beyond its traditional constituencies. Most painful has been the effort required to try to change the general mindset from confrontational to accommodative. The DPP went on to form a minority government and to challenge the still powerful now-opposition KMT in almost every important policy debate. Consequently, components for effective governance such as coordination, compromise, institution-building, etc., are rare stock. The inherent factional schism is hurting the party as virtues like coherence of policy, coordination of bureaucracies, and even channel of command are compromised. Ethnic incongruence seems to be aggravating the situation.     

Views on workplace culture and climate: through the lens of retention and Title IV-E participation

ABSTRACT

Retention of public child welfare (PCW) workers is the focus of much scholarly research. Examinations of the topic have ranged from assessments of workers’ background to job factors and attitudinal components about the workplace. Unlike most studies, the present study uses agency administrative data on retention. In it, 502 PCW workers responded to a point-in-time survey covering a wide range of topics including job satisfaction, commitment to child welfare, perceptions of culture and climate, Title IV-E status, and demographic variables. While Title IV-Es were more likely to leave the agency, several significant interactions between Title IV-E and retention status showed that Title IV-Es who left the agency had significantly lower supervisor satisfaction and influence than Title IV-Es who stayed; and lower efficacy scores than non-Title IV-Es who left. No such differences were found for non-Title IV-E stayers and leavers. Implications for these differences for county agencies and universities are discussed.     

社会主义市场经济内涵的再认识

市场经济不仅仅是一种经济调 节手段和资源配置方式,市场经济更是 一种经济制度。资本主义市场经济是市 场经济典型的一般的形态。社会主义市 场经济是有社会主义特色的市场经济制 度,是市场经济特殊的形态。