Abstract:

It can be said that people who are not successful in time management tend to procrastinate their tasks. Procrastination is one of the significant factors that negatively affect student success in the learning environment. Generally, procrastination is defined as the act of unnecessarily delaying tasks, causing discomfort to the individual. Procrastination behavior is classified in various ways, one of which is academic procrastination. Higher education students with a tendency for academic procrastination experience a decline in their academic achievements. The main purpose of this research is to determine the level of academic procrastination behavior among teacher candidates studying at the Faculty of Islamic Sciences and to identify differentiation according to certain variables. To achieve this goal, a survey model was preferred, and data were collected in accordance with quantitative research techniques. To measure academic procrastination behavior and collect data, the Academic Procrastination Behavior Scale (APBS), developed by Ocak and Bulut in 2015, was used. Permission for the scale's application was obtained from the researchers who developed it and the ethical committee of the relevant university. The research participants consisted of 231 teacher candidates from all class levels studying at Ahi Evran University Faculty of Islamic Sciences during the 2022-2023 academic year. As a result of the research, it was found that the academic procrastination behavior of the participant teacher candidates was at a "low" level. In the analysis of the data with the sub-dimensions of the academic procrastination scale, it was revealed that the "Negative Perception of Teachers" sub-dimension had the highest average score among the others. In terms of personal variables related to teacher candidates, it was concluded that there was no significant difference in terms of gender, class level of education, and type of secondary education graduated from. However, there were some differences regarding academic achievement, satisfaction with the faculty, and the reason for choosing the school. Accordingly, teacher candidates with higher academic achievement, those satisfied with the faculty, and those who chose the faculty of their own will had lower levels of academic procrastination compared to others. In light of these findings, guidance activities can be organized throughout the faculty to reduce the academic procrastination behavior of teacher candidates and promote effective time management. Including motivation-enhancing activities in the teaching and evaluation processes can also be effective in reducing academic procrastination behavior.

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