A study of the effect of extra-curricular activities upon the academic proficiency of college students pursuing such activity

Abstract

A study was made in an effort to discover the effect of extra-curricular activities pursued by college students upon the grades which they attained.

As a vehicle for research, one class entering Virginia Polytechnic Institute was studied and analyzed statistically. As a means for establishing criteria for the time expended on each type of extra-curricular activity, the student leaders currently attending Virginia Polytechnic Institute, were canvassed to determine the average number of hours per week that each consumed in the pursuance or each extra-curricular activity in which he engaged. An average of the times reported by these student leaders was taken as a numerical index for each type of extra-curricular activity.

The class referred to above was divided into two groups, the control group consisting of students with negligible participation in extra-curricular activities; the variable group, those active in extra-curricular activities. Academic attainments between groups was compared. Subdividing the above named groups by schools within the college, academic attainments were compared. Subdividing these same groups in a manner to require each pair or groups by school to consist of only students who could be identically matched according to the index they attained on the Otis Gamma Test for Mental Ability, academic attainments were again compared.

Under five different conditions, the hours of extracurricular activity pursued were statistically correlated with the academic progress of each student. The results were statistically without significance.

The statistical treatments previously stated indicated that, in general, the extra-curricular activities pursued by students had little, if any, direct influence upon the academic grades that they attained. This study indicates that no action is warranted to restrict the quantity of extra-curricular activities that a student may carry.