A Comparative Study to Assess the Study Habits and Academic Performance Among Day Scholars and Hostellers in First Year Mbbs Students

Background : A comprehensive comprehension of students' study habits is of utmost significance for educators in facilitating their academic pursuits. Objective: To determine, assess and compare the study habits and the academic performance among day scholars and hostellers. Materials and Methods: The 1st year MBBS students who were consented to participate in the study were given a structured self-assessment questionnaire developed and standardized by Palsane and Sharma. Palsane and Sharma Study Habits and Inventory (PSSHI). The self-assessment skills tool has six categories. Each domain consists of five statements, resulting in a total of 30 statements within the tool. The academic performance of the students was assessed by separate exams with a maximum score of 100 with 50 being the pass mark. Results: The mean PSSHI scores among day scholars and hostellers were 210.58 ∓ 5.8 and 196 ∓ 4.5 ( p =0.01) ,and the mean academic performance scores among day scholars and hostellers were 61.25 ∓ 6.2 and 56.2 ∓ 5.6 respectively ( p =0.02). This parity in performance indicated that study habits and academic performance are better among the day scholars as compared to hostellers. Conclusion: PSSHI scores and internal marks were significantly higher among the day scholars as compared with the hostellers (p=0.01; p=0.02 respectively).


Introduction:
Within the context of a competitive societal framework, the inclination to surpass others or attain a superior level relative to one's peers is sometimes referred to as achievement motivation.A comprehensive comprehension of students' study habits is of utmost significance for educators in facilitating their academic pursuits.Previous studies have repeatedly demonstrated that altering the learning environment enhances information retention.Numerous studies have consistently demonstrated that the practice of varying study surroundings leads to enhanced academic performance, as opposed to the contrary effect (1,2).
Based on existing theories on study habits, it can be posited that students can be roughly classified into two categories.The first category includes students who engage in shorter study sessions, have strong attention abilities, and can achieve commendable academic performance with relative ease.The second category comprises kids who exhibit suboptimal levels of concentration and require significant effort to achieve satisfactory academic performance (3).The aim of this study is to examine and compare the study habits and academic achievements of first-year MBBS students who reside in hostels against those who commute from home.

Objectives:
1. To determine the study habits among day scholars and hostellers.2. To assess and compare the academic performance among day scholars and hostellers.

Materials and methods:
Study Design: This is a cross-sectional analytical study conducted on first-year M.B.B.S students at Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam. 100 students (50 day scholars and 50 hostellers) were taken into consideration.First-year M.B.B.S students belonging to the age of 18 -21 years, of both genders who consented to the study were included in the study.Individuals who did not give consent and individuals younger than 18 years of age and older than 21 years were excluded from the study.Institutional Ethics Committee clearance was obtained and written and informed consent was obtained from the participants.The study abides by the guidelines laid by the Declaration of Helsinki.The students were given a structured self-assessment questionnaire developed and standardized by Palsane and Sharma.Palsane and Sharma Study Habits and Inventory (PSSHI).The self-assessment skills tool has six categories, specifically reading textbooks, note-taking, studying, memorization, exam preparation, and time management.Each domain consists of five statements, resulting in a total of 30 statements within the tool.The available response options for each statement were rarely, sometimes, and often, with corresponding scores assigned to each option as 0, 5, and 10, respectively.Each domain was characterized by a score range of 0 to 50, while the overall score of the instrument spans from 0 to 300.If the results obtained fell between the range of 35 to 50 in each domain or exceeded a total score of 210, it was inferred that the students had relatively good study habits.Conversely, if the scores were below 35 in each area or fell below a total score of 210, it indicated poor study habits.The average time to answer them was 15 minutes.The academic performance of the students was assessed by separate exams with a maximum score of 100 with 50 being the pass mark.All the data were tabulated using Microsoft Excel software.The statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 28.

Results:
The mean age of the study population was 19.2 ∓ 1.2 among day scholars and 19.4 ∓ 1.6 among hostellers.The difference is not statistically significant (p=0.7).Among day scholars, 28 were females and 23 were males.Among hostellers, 30 were females and 20 were males.There was no gender disparity observed.There were no psychiatric issues among the study participants and none of them were on psychiatric medication while the study was conducted.The difference between PSSHI scores among day scholars and hostellers was statistically significant with day scholars having higher scores than hostellers (p=0.01).The difference between Internal marks among day scholars and hostelers was statistically significant with day scholars having higher marks than hostellers (p=0.02).
Graph showing the comparison between day scholars and hostellers with respect to internal marks and PSSHI scores.

Discussion:
Based on prior research, effective study habits encompass several key elements.These include selecting a conducive environment for studying, engaging in daily study sessions, eliminating distractions from electronic devices such as televisions and mobile phones, actively taking notes on pertinent material, incorporating regular intervals of rest and breaks, incorporating soft music as an auditory aid, tailoring study methods to align with individual learning styles, and allocating sufficient time and attention to challenging subject matter (4).Several suboptimal study habits might hinder academic performance, such as engaging in procrastination, avoiding studying altogether, choosing unsuitable study environments, and subjecting oneself to distracting auditory stimuli, such as loud music or television.The significance of study habits as a predictor of academic achievement has been widely recognized in global research.It has been established that study habits have a direct impact on academic performance (5,6).
In 2016, a study was undertaken by Sreelekha et al to investigate the study habits and academic performance of first-year MBBS students.The average PSSHI scores for students having good study habits and poor study habits were 227.70±7.81 and 158.01±7.53(p = 0.0001), respectively.Similarly, the average academic performance scores for these two groups were 16.15±2.11and 8.88±1.96(p = 0.0001), respectively.In groups I and II, the correlation coefficient (r) between study habits and academic achievement was found to be 0.87 and 0.98, respectively.The researchers reached the conclusion that there was a substantial difference in the scores of students with fair study habits as compared to those with poor study habits, as observed in the section completion exam (7).
In our study, the mean ages of the study population were 19.2 ∓ 1.2 among day scholars and 19.4 ∓ 1.6 among hostellers with no statistically significant difference.The gender ratio was also similar among both groups with no statistically significant difference.The PSSHI score was significantly higher among the day scholars (p=0.01).Similarly, the internal marks were statistically higher among the day scholars as compared with hostellers (p=0.02).This parity in performance indicated that study habits are better among the day scholars as compared to hostellers.

Conclusion:
PSSHI scores and internal marks were significantly higher among the day scholars as compared with the hostellers (p=0.01;p=0.02 respectively).