Effect of Work on the Overall GPA by Students - Research Paper Example

Work and GPA Effect of work on the overall GPA by Introduction The current social, economic and political environment has brought a lot of change in the society’s behavior towards financial issues. The students are not left behind and it is therefore very common today to find college students opting for part time assignments to earn extra cash and manage their personal financial demands. Some of them are orphans or have parents or guardians who cannot pay fees, accommodation or food and this necessitates their involvement in part time employment contracts. The craving desire to lead a given life among the youth mostly at college level has also majorly contributed to the rampant engagement in jobs (Coon, Mitterer, Talbot & Vanchella, 2010). The question remains the influence such part time employments have on the overall performance of the students. There are a number of variables that need to be captured when handling this research study since it is a bit critical and demanding in terms of experiments and the aggregate analysis. A number of extraneous varies have also been at play and may dilute the expected outcome, recommendations and conclusion. Some statistical methods have been applied besides econometric methodologies to analyze the relationship between employment time against the time committed for study and the resultant GPA at the end of the study period. Among the statistical tests of significances in cause-effect relationship between the level of performance and the time put in the part time Current study The current research study is aimed at showing the underlying correlation between hours of work compared to study hours for students who are employed and the ones not employed. The main objective of this study is to unveil more information regarding the negative effects of working more hours to college students’ versus the time spent on studying and to what extent being employed has on their overall GPA. Finally, the results of this study will not only help students understand the merits and demerits of having a job while attending school but it can also help them to improve their time management in balancing work and school. Method Participants The participants that form the sample consisted of Massachusetts Institute of technology students that were in workshop during summer. The total number of students considered in this research was 120. Design The research design in this case, measurements of the dependent and the explanatory variable were in nominal scale. The major effect focused on the hours of work per week each participants have and the amount of time they were able to spend on studying. The subject pool was divided into two groups on whether they are employed or not and was asked a number of questions regarding time of study and outside sources such as time spent on socializing with other people, time spent chatting online, etc. The results obtained from the data was then used in a related sample t- test to compare the influences of each individuals working hours and outside sources to the time allocated for studying. Procedures Students were given choices for bonus points for responding to the survey at the end of research. The survey consisted of questions regarding information about personal lives, academic standings, overall GPA (counting credits from other universities/colleges),number of credits taken while in the university, credits taking during the semester, and how the student pay off their college tuition fees. The students were given a period of one week to answer these questionnaires and was collected thereafter. The results were then tallied and compared in respect to those that are working versus those who are not working. Instruments The instruments under application in this experiment include tabulation and graphs.Considering the data given in this experiment, it is important to note that there exists a strong relationship between the times committed for the job by the students against the GPA. Pearson correlation coefficient is one of the statistical methods that have been used in this investigative test. From the first table, it is worth noting that the total correlation coefficient cannot exceed one neither can it go below negative one. Positive one indicates same direction relationship while negative one shows opposite relationship between the variables.2-tailed Results Pearson correlation coefficient shows that the outcome on the students GPA versus the time dedicated for the study is negative. Smaller negative value of the Pearson’s correlation coefficient shows that the two variables are loosely negatively correlated. This is due to the extraneous variable factor which may not be conspicuous but also contribute in the final results of the research findings. The second table shows nonparametric statistical analysis with a sample size of 120. It gives a trend which is consistently negative. This result need to be discussed from two dimensions before seeking the opinion of the hypothesis. There is the magnitude of the numerical value of the coefficient and the sign which in this case is negative. Scatter diagram gives a visual impression of the relationship between the two variables and it is quite easy to understand relative to other methods of analyzing this data (Berk, 2004). It is a graphical presentation of the relationship between the time periods spent in working against the time period put into learning by the student. It is observed that the scatter line is fairly not sloping and this tells how the two variables are loosely connected. However, it worth to note that there is a slight negative gradient of the scatter lines which presents a negative correlation coefficient for the students’ GPA versus working hours. Discussion The concern is what causes the observed trend and the appropriate policy recommendations. Globalization has far stretching effects that cannot be matched to any other form of global social order. The current technological explosion coupled with increased improvement in communication information technology has opened doors for the college students to earn while learning. The main problem is how to balance study together with the work (Coon, Mitterer, Talbot & Vanchella, 2010). Any employment demands commitment and personal sacrifice implying an opportunity cost in choosing employment for learning and vice versa. In other words, when a student goes to take up a job, there is a shift in concentration from class work to workplace and this highly affect the retention capacity of the student. In respect of this many students tend to deliver dismally in the exams leading to lower accumulated GPA. Past research has also established that the real life work is slightly related to what is learnt. This explains why some of these students may do well in practical work but still perform poorly in theory tests. The motivation behind work looks more appealing since the result is realized as soon as it is accomplished compared to learning that may seem not rewarding to the learners in the short run. In respect of such immediate reward, students tend to sacrifice even the time they should cool off from learning to do the job which tends to erode memory leading to stagnated retention ability of the brain. The information gap from the past research studies exhibit the magnitude of the work which still remains pending concerning the alarming rate at which the college students are engaging in employment as they go to school at the expense of better grades (Maggs, Schulenberg & Hurrelmann, 1999) . Conclusion Due to the rising deteriorating performance of the students due to part time, concern has been raised by the society to curb the problem before it gets out of hand. The best thing that can be done to remedy this challenge is a consultative research and policy making by the government, international community and the scholars on how to device appropriate measures that would be fair to both parties. Most of the students stray into part time jobs due to low prospects of employment after finishing school under the guise of lacking experience (Maggs, Schulenberg & Hurrelmann, 1999). It is imperative that the performance of the students is given serious attention since it forms the basis of self discipline even in the work place. References Berk, R. A. (2004). Regression analysis: A constructive critique. London [u.a: Sage Publ. Coon, D., Mitterer, J. O., Talbot, S., & Vanchella, C. M. (2010). Introduction to psychology: Gateways to mind and behavior. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Maggs, J., Schulenberg, J., & Hurrelmann, K. (1999). Health risks and developmental transitions during adolescence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Read More