Importance of Time Management Skills during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Exploratory Learning Analytics Study in an Introductory Programming Course

ABSTRACT

Time management is an important self-regulation strategy that can improve student learning and lead to higher performance. Students who can manage their time effectively are more likely to exhibit consistent engagement in learning activities and to complete course assignments in a timely manner. Well planning of the study time is an essential part of online learning and has been particularly critical in remote education during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period of crisis, programming courses have been exceptionally challenging since students needed to devote sufficient time in the practice of code-writing besides studying the theoretical foundations, while, at the same time, working on the learning tasks for other online courses. Therefore, students' time management skills have been a determining factor in how they engaged in programming courses during the emergency remote education. In this regard, this study explores the association between students' time management skills and their course engagement (extracted from the LMS log data) in an undergraduate-level programming course taught fully online during the pandemic. Results show varying levels of participation and different temporal patterns of engagement depending on the students' ability to manage their time. Additionally, students with strong time management skills performed slightly better than those with poor time management skills. Implications for future research and practice are shared.