Academic Procrastination of Spanish Pre-service Teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The present study seeks to ascertain whether the academic procrastination of university pre-service teachers varied during the COVID-19 pandemic when compared to data collected from another sample (n = 794) taken before the pandemic, and the reasons that might explain this. 910 pre-service teachers responded to the PASS scale, Academic Procrastination Scale, Unintentional Procrastination Scale, Active Procrastination Scale, and the New General Self-Efficacy Scale during the pandemic. The results reflect greater procrastination than for the pre-pandemic sample; 37.8% felt that their procrastination had increased due to the pandemic, which was more evident amongst women, whereas 8.7% reported having procrastinated less, displaying the highest level of self-efficacy. In both instances, the most commonly alleged reasons were greater time management, together with changes they were forced to make in their study habits. We discuss the implications that might need to be considered when planning and organizing teaching, should a similar situation occur again.

El objetivo de este trabajo es conocer si la procrastinación académica de los estudiantes universitarios de formación del profesorado varió durante la pandemia de COVID-19 en comparación con datos recogidos de otra muestra (n = 794) antes de la pandemia y los motivos que lo justifican. Han participado 910 estudiantes, que respondieron a la escala PASS, la Escala de Procrastinación Académica, la Escala de Procrastinación Involuntaria, la Escala de Procrastinación Activa y la Nueva Escala de Autoeficacia General durante la pandemia. Los resultados indican una mayor procrastinación que la muestra prepandemia. Un 37.8% cree haber aumentado su procrastinación por la pandemia, sobre todo las mujeres, mientras el 8.7% afirman procrastinar menos, siendo los que mayor autoeficacia tienen. En ambos casos, los motivos más frecuentes han sido el disponer de más tiempo, junto a cambios en sus hábitos de estudio. Se comentan las implicaciones para la organización docente en caso de repetirse una situación similar.