Manajemen | Fakultas Ekonomi Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji joeb.83.1.11-18
Journal of Education for Business
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
Teaching Self-Management: The Design and
Implementation of Self-Management Tutorials
Megan Gerhardt
To cite this article: Megan Gerhardt (2007) Teaching Self-Management: The Design and
Implementation of Self-Management Tutorials, Journal of Education for Business, 83:1, 11-18,
DOI: 10.3200/JOEB.83.1.11-18
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.83.1.11-18
Published online: 07 Aug 2010.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 87
View related articles
Citing articles: 5 View citing articles
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at
http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=vjeb20
Download by: [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji]
Date: 11 January 2016, At: 23:01
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 23:01 11 January 2016
TeachingSelf-Management:
TheDesignandImplementation
ofSelf-ManagementTutorials
MEGANGERHARDT
MIAMIUNIVERSITY
OXFORD,OHIO
ABSTRACT.Learningtheskillsof
self-managementisanessentialtaskfor
studentsinthe21stcentury.Atotalof223
undergraduatestudentsparticipatedin4
self-managementtutorialsthatpresented
thecomponentsofunderstandingandmasteringself-managementskillsincluding(a)
self-assessment,(b)goalsetting,(c)time
management,and(d)self-regulation.The
authorassessedstudents’self-management
skillspre-andposttrainingandreactions
tothetutorials.Resultsrevealedsignificantincreasesinself-managementskills
posttrainingandfavorablestudentreactionstothetutorials.Follow-updataona
subsetofparticipants(n=44)2yearslater
indicatedadditionalsignificantincreases
inuseandperceivedusefulnessofselfmanagementskills.
Keywords:goalsetting,self-management,
timemanagement
Copyright©2007HeldrefPublications
E
ducators’ ultimate goal—one
could argue—is to prepare their
students as well as possible for the
issues and challenges that the students
willfacewhentheyleavetheclassrooms
andentertheircareers.Thus,educators
must ultimately teach the students to
manage themselves. As we enter the
21st century, organizations are becomingflatterandareusingfewerlevelsof
supervision. As the structure of these
organizations changes, organizational
leadersareexpectingemployeesacross
all disciplines to have proficiency in
theskillsofself-management:knowing
howtomanagetheirownprogressand
having the ability to effectively plan,
monitor,andregulatetheirdevelopment
andperformance(Allen,Renn,&Griffeth,2003).
Academics and practitioners agree
thattheeducationoftomorrow’sworkforce must include self-management
training.Self-managementhasbecome
a “defining element” (Castaneda,
Kolenko,&Aldag,1999,p.101)ofthe
new organization and is often the distinctiveelementofthebestfirms(Hout
& Carter, 1995). In a recent survey,
human resource executives cited self-
managementskillsascrucialforfuture
managerial careers (Allred & Snow,
1996). Indeed, Luthans and Davis
(1979) have referred to self-management as “the missing link” (p. 43) in
organizationaleffectiveness.
Self-Management:AnOverview
Mills(1983)definedself-management
aseffortsbyanindividualtocontrolhis
or her own behavior. Self-management
involves assessing problems, establishing goals, monitoring time and environmental issues that may hinder the
accomplishment of those goals, and
using reinforcement and punishment to
regulate goal progress and attainment
(Frayne,1991).Bytheeducators’training the students to evaluate, monitor,
and regulate themselves, the students
becomeresponsibleandaccountablefor
theirownprogressandperformanceand
essentiallybecomeself-managers.
The first step in self-management is
to conduct a self-assessment. Through
this stage, an individual discovers the
problems that stand between the individualandthegoalsthatheorshewants
to accomplish. This discovery leads to
thesecondstepofestablishingandcommittingtospecificgoals(Kanfer,1987).
Iftheindividualdoesnotsetandcommit to these goals, the next step—selfmonitoring—will have little impact on
theindividual’sbehavior(Simon,1979).
Self-monitoring involves individuals’
active monitoring of their own time
andenvironmentalmanagementandthe
identificationofissuesorsituationsthat
may prevent individuals from reaching
theirgoals.Thefourthandfinalstepin
self-management is the self-evaluation
September/October2007
11
stage, wherein the individuals evaluate
thesuccessoftheirplanandrefinetheir
tacticsifnecessary.
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 23:01 11 January 2016
ImpactofSelf-Management
Training
Over the past 20 years, organizational behavior scholars have advocated
the use of self-management training in
organizational and educational settings
(Luthans&Davis,1979;Manz&Sims,
1980; Mills, 1983). Such scholars see
self-management as a way to decrease
theneedforemployeesupervision,meet
employee demands for autonomy and
challengingjobs,andhelpmeetdemands
for home offices and telecommuting.
Researchersofoccupationalrealmshave
found that self-management training
leads to increases in job performance
anddecreasesincounterproductivework
behavior, such as absenteeism (Frayne
& Geringer, 2000; Frayne & Latham,
1987).
Self-management skills have also
beenassociatedwithsuccessintheacademic realm. Self-management has led
toimprovedacademicproductivityand
achievement (Dean, Malott, & Fulton,
1983). Self-management programs that
are specifically designed to increase
theamountoftimethatstudentsspend
in studying have had positive results
(Champlin & Karoly, 1975; Miller &
Gimpl, 1972). Researchers have found
that more than 70% of participants in
self-management training programs
typicallyreachtheirdesiredgoalsafter
the training is complete (McGaghie,
Menges, & Dobroski, 1976; Rakos &
Grodek,1984).Todate,thepastefforts
of educators to teach these techniques
have been successful (e.g., Jones, Nelson,&Kazdin,1977;Miller&Gimpl;
O’Leary&Dubey,1979;Rosenbaum&
Drabman,1979),butrecentresearchon
teachingself-managementinthecollege
classroomappearstobelacking.
Becauseofthetimelinessandimportancethateducatorsplaceonthelearning and mastery of self-management
skills in today’s workplace, it seems
essentialthatcurrentresearchersexplore
the feasibility and success of teaching self-management in our college
classrooms. Because of the applicability of self-management skills in both
12
JournalofEducationforBusiness
occupational and academic realms, the
importance of self-management skills
that employers cite, and the success of
trainingsuchskillsthatresearcherscite,
masteryoftheseself-managementskills
isanimportantelementforinclusionin
collegiate level education. Employers
are clearly sending the message that
theywillrequiretheseskillsfromtheir
futureemployees,makingittheresponsibilityoftheeducatorstofindeffective
waystoteachstudentstheseskills.
Thepurposeofthisstudyistwofold:
(a)todiscussthedevelopmentandsuccessful integration of individual selfmanagementtrainingintoamanagement
education course and (b) to assess the
impactoftheseself-managementtutorialsonstudentreactionsandlearning.
IntegratingSelf-Management
TrainingintheClassroom
I compiled a series of four self-
management tutorials to teach self-
management skills and to reinforce
several important concepts in a management course. The goal of the tutorials was to help students understand
the importance and impact of learning
self-managementandcomprehendhow
these skills are based in management
theory.Usingthestagesofself-managementastheframework,Idevelopedfour
corresponding tutorials for use in an
introductory management course. (See
Appendix for example. Appendix also
provides an overview of the tutorials
that this article does not present fully.
Contact Dr. Megan Gerhardt for more
detailsonadditionalonlinetutorials.)
A total of 223 undergraduates participated in the self-management tutorials.
Each tutorial was designed to teach the
core principles of a self-management
stage and to give students the opportunitytopracticetheskillsassociatedwith
mastering each step. The four stages of
self-managementbuildoneachother,and
eachtutorialpresentedimportantinformationandskillsnecessaryforthestudentto
understand and develop. To ensure that
studentswereadequatelyexposedtoeach
ofthefourtopics,thetutorialshadatwopart design: an out-of-class component
andanin-classcomponent.Thestudents
were required to take all tutorials and
weregivenpointsforcompletion.
Fortheout-of-classcomponent,students completed a set of online exercises. The online tutorials provided
detailed information about the nature
of each stage and then provided the
students with hands-on opportunities
to apply the concepts to themselves
andtotheirlives.Thein-classcomponent of the tutorial took place during
the class period immediately following the completion of the out-of-class
assignment. In class, the instructor
discussedconceptsofthecurrentself-
managementstageandstudentsviewed
theoverallresponsesoftheirclassmates
tothehands-onexercisesthattheyhad
completed online. The instructor conductedaclassdiscussiononwhyeach
set of skills was important for academicandcareersuccess.
In the following sections, I review
the overall concepts that each tutorial
discusses. In addition, I review student
reactionsandinputassociatedwiththeir
onlinetutorialexercises.
Tutorial1:Self-Assessment
The first self-management tutorial presents general information about
self-management and also takes students through the first step of self-
management: self-assessment. In the
tutorial, the instructor presents self-management as a way to control and manage one’s own behavior in life and at
work and discusses the importance that
21st-century organizations place on self-
managed workers, emphasizing the students’ ability to learn and apply these
skills.Thepurposeoftheself-assessment
stageistoenablestudentstopinpointtheir
ownpersonalareasforimprovement.
During the online component of
Tutorial 1 (see Appendix), students
listed areas such as better studying
skills, better exam performance, less
procrastination, and better learning
skillsasareasthattheywereinterested
in improving: Of the students, 74%
indicated that making such changes
wasveryimportanttothem;26%indicated that making these changes was
somewhat important; 69% of students
indicated that they would be willing
to exert a great deal of effort to make
these changes; and 31% were willing
toexertsomeeffort.
Duringthein-classsession,theinstructor emphasized that self-management is
an individualized process, with everyone
accountableforone’sbehaviorandchoices.Thestudentsandinstructordiscussed
that although their current areas of concernwereprimarilyacademic,theseconcerns would later evolve as they entered
the workplace. Researchers have proven
self-management skills to be effective in
academicandoccupationalcontexts,and
studentsandtheinstructordiscussedthis
wideapplicability.
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 23:01 11 January 2016
Tutorial2:GoalSetting
Thesecondstageoftheself-managementprocessisgoalsetting.Thisstageis
directlytiedtotheconceptofindividual
motivation.Oneofthemoststudiedand
highly supported theories of individual
motivationisgoal-settingtheory(Locke,
1968;Locke&Latham,1990).Goal-settingtheorystatesthatindividualswhoset
effectivegoalstendtoaccomplishmore
thandoindividualswhodonotseteffectivegoals.
DuringtheonlinecomponentofTutorial 2, students were introduced to the
coreconceptsofgoal-settingtheoryand
the standard characteristics of effective
goals: specific, measurable, attainable,
realistic,andtime-oriented(S.M.A.R.T.).
Thestudentswereaskedtosettwoacademicgoalsandtorevisethesegoalsto
meetthestandardeffectivegoalcriteria.
By the end of the online component of
Tutorial 2, students had set two goals
that were personally important to them
thatmeteffectivegoalcriteria.
During the in-class session, students
discussed the impact of goal setting
on performance, and the instructor
reviewedresearchsupportingthiseffect
(e.g., Klein, Wesson, Hollenbeck, &
Alge, 1999; Latham & Baldes, 1975).
Toemphasizethewideapplicabilityof
these skills, students and the instructor
talkedaboutcreatinglifegoalsandacademic goals. The instructor asked studentstogeneratelistsoflifegoalsand
revisethesegoalstofittheS.M.A.R.T.
criteria.
Tutorial3:Self-Monitoring
Onthepathtosuccessfulgoalattainment,thereareoftenmanybarriers.Itis
unrealistic for one to expect to simply
set a goal and reach it without bumps
along the way. To be successful as a
self-manager,individualsmustbeready
for potential obstacles and be skilled
in the techniques that are necessary to
overcome these obstacles. Determining
whether one is adequately ready and
skilledisthepurposeofthethirdstage
ofself-management:self-monitoring.
During the online component of
Tutorial 3, the students were asked to
honestly assess how they spent their
time and whether their current environments and time management practices helped them accomplish their
goals.Thestudentswereaskedtorate
their current time-management skills
andhowoftentheytendtouseproven
time-management techniques (such as
keeping a planner or schedule). The
students were also asked to evaluate
their current living and studying environmentsandtogenerateideasforhow
they could better manage their time
andenvironmenttosuccessfullyreach
the goals that they had previously set
forthemselves.
During the in-class session, students
discussedtheimpactofpoortimemanagementonstressandjobperformance
and revealed to the whole class their
overall class responses about their
time- and environmental-management
tendencies. Of students, 4.2% felt that
they were “very successful” at managingtheirtime,and53%ofstudentsfelt
theywerenotstudyingasmuchasthey
needed to. The student responses also
revealedthatthestudentsvariedintheir
perceptionoftheidealenvironmentfor
studying:Somestudentspreferredabsolutequiet,whereasothersneedednoise
to concentrate. The instructor emphasized the importance of understanding
theiruniquepreferencesandtendencies.
Studentsdiscussedhowtobestmanage
their schedules and surroundings to be
as successful as possible in reaching
theirgoals.
Tutorial4:Self-Regulation
The final stage in self-management
is learning self-regulation skills. The
principles of self-regulation are closely linked to learning theory, specifically the theory of operant conditioning (Skinner, 1938). Self-monitoring
involvestheevaluationofone’sprogress
toward successful goal attainment and
the use of the principles of reinforcement and punishment to keep behavior
on track. If individuals are progressingtowardtheaccomplishmentoftheir
goals, they should reward or reinforce
this behavior to increase the likelihood
that such behavior will be repeated. If
thebehaviorisnotleadingtowardgoal
accomplishment, such behavior should
besubjecttoapunishment,whichwill
increasethelikelihoodthatsuchbehaviorwillnotberepeated.
This final piece of self-management
integrates all of the previous steps. To
beasuccessfulself-manager,individuals
must(a)beawareofareasforimprovement,(b)seteffectivegoals,(c)monitor
theirtimeandsurroundingstoallowthem
to reach those goals, and (d) actively
evaluatewhethertheirbehaviorisgetting
themclosertogoalachievement.
DuringtheonlinecomponentofTutorial 4, the students were instructed to
honestly evaluate how they were progressingtowardtheirgoalsandhowsuccessful their attempts at self-monitoring
hadbeen.Thestudentswerealsoasked
togeneratepotentialreinforcementsand
punishmentsthattheycouldusetokeep
themselvesontrack.
During the in-class session, the
instructorreviewedtheself-management
steps that the students had completed
throughoutthesemester.Inaddition,the
studentsdiscussedtheoverallprogressof
theclass.Ofthestudents,41%reported
that they were actively pursuing both
of the academic goals they had set for
themselves earlier in the semester, 57%
reported pursuing one of the two goals,
and45%reportedthattheynowfeltthat
theywereaboveaverageintheircurrent
time-managementskills.
Students and the instructor discussed
the relationship of self-evaluation to the
conceptsoflearningtheoryandhowproviding rewards for the achievement of
self-setgoalswouldhelpstudentsbecome
moresuccessfulatself-management.Students shared with the class samples of
rewards that they had chosen, such as
a night out with friends. Many students
felt that knowing that they were making
progresstowardimportantgoalsandfeelingthattheyweresuccessfullymanaging
theirtimewererewardsinthemselves.
September/October2007
13
Studentsandtheinstructordiscussed
whattrulymadeself-managementeffective:knowingtheskills,activelypracticing the skills, believing that self-managementwillleadtosuccess,andhaving
adesireandwillingnesstoputforththe
effort and practice to become a skilled
self-manager.Theinstructorencouraged
the students to evaluate what they had
learned and determine what aspects of
thisprocessworkedwellforthem.
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 23:01 11 January 2016
ImplicationsandImpact
After completing four self-management tutorials over the semester,
students learned about the concepts
and importance of self-management
skills—bothfortheiracademicsuccess
andfortheirlong-termcareersuccess.
However, as is the case with any new
teachingtool,itwasnotinitiallyclear
eitherwhatkindofanimpacttheselfmanagement tutorials had on the students or what their perceptions of the
trainingwere.
Toassesstheimpactoftraining,Kirkpatrick (1996) identified four potential
levels of training evaluation: reactions,
learning, behavior, and organizational
results.InstructorsassessLevels1and2
immediatelyaftertraining,whereasthey
evaluateLevels3and4latertoevaluate
transferoftraining(Noe,1999).Forthe
purposesofthisstudy,thefocuswason
Kirkpatrick’s first two levels: reactions
andlearning.
A total of 223 undergraduate students
ataMidwesternuniversitycompletedthe
tutorialsandasurvey.Demographicinformationrevealedthatofthissample,45.1%
werewomenand54.9%weremen.Also,
93.3% were White and 6.7% were of
other races or ethnicities. The mean age
was 20.24 years (SD = 1.52 years). The
firstleveloftrainingevaluationistrainee
reactions (Kirkpatrick, 1996), because
learning is in part a function of positive
reactions to training (Alliger & Janak,
1989).Ofallstudentssurveyed,83%felt
that the self-management skills that they
had learned were useful and planned to
use the skills in the future. Of all, 63%
indicated that they had put forth either
someoragreatdealofeffortinlearning
the skills.Also, 64% indicated that they
felt the skills had a positive impact on
their academic performance. Last, 73%
14
JournalofEducationforBusiness
ofstudentsfeltthattheself-management
tutorials had a positive impact on their
experiencewiththemanagementcourse.
The second level of training evaluationislearning(Kirkpatrick,1996),an
evaluation of the students’ mastery of
skillandconcept.AccordingtoCampbell(1988),themostimportantelement
ofanytrainingprogramistodetermine
whethertraineeshavelearnedthematerialbeingtaught.Todeterminewhether
students’useofself-managementskills
increased after the training, instructors
administered a simple 4-item measure
of the use of self-management skills
before and after the training. I conductedapaired-samplesttesttoevaluateself-managementscoresbeforeand
after the training. Results indicated a
significant increase in self-management scores following the self-management training, t(222) = −3.55, p
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
Teaching Self-Management: The Design and
Implementation of Self-Management Tutorials
Megan Gerhardt
To cite this article: Megan Gerhardt (2007) Teaching Self-Management: The Design and
Implementation of Self-Management Tutorials, Journal of Education for Business, 83:1, 11-18,
DOI: 10.3200/JOEB.83.1.11-18
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.83.1.11-18
Published online: 07 Aug 2010.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 87
View related articles
Citing articles: 5 View citing articles
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at
http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=vjeb20
Download by: [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji]
Date: 11 January 2016, At: 23:01
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 23:01 11 January 2016
TeachingSelf-Management:
TheDesignandImplementation
ofSelf-ManagementTutorials
MEGANGERHARDT
MIAMIUNIVERSITY
OXFORD,OHIO
ABSTRACT.Learningtheskillsof
self-managementisanessentialtaskfor
studentsinthe21stcentury.Atotalof223
undergraduatestudentsparticipatedin4
self-managementtutorialsthatpresented
thecomponentsofunderstandingandmasteringself-managementskillsincluding(a)
self-assessment,(b)goalsetting,(c)time
management,and(d)self-regulation.The
authorassessedstudents’self-management
skillspre-andposttrainingandreactions
tothetutorials.Resultsrevealedsignificantincreasesinself-managementskills
posttrainingandfavorablestudentreactionstothetutorials.Follow-updataona
subsetofparticipants(n=44)2yearslater
indicatedadditionalsignificantincreases
inuseandperceivedusefulnessofselfmanagementskills.
Keywords:goalsetting,self-management,
timemanagement
Copyright©2007HeldrefPublications
E
ducators’ ultimate goal—one
could argue—is to prepare their
students as well as possible for the
issues and challenges that the students
willfacewhentheyleavetheclassrooms
andentertheircareers.Thus,educators
must ultimately teach the students to
manage themselves. As we enter the
21st century, organizations are becomingflatterandareusingfewerlevelsof
supervision. As the structure of these
organizations changes, organizational
leadersareexpectingemployeesacross
all disciplines to have proficiency in
theskillsofself-management:knowing
howtomanagetheirownprogressand
having the ability to effectively plan,
monitor,andregulatetheirdevelopment
andperformance(Allen,Renn,&Griffeth,2003).
Academics and practitioners agree
thattheeducationoftomorrow’sworkforce must include self-management
training.Self-managementhasbecome
a “defining element” (Castaneda,
Kolenko,&Aldag,1999,p.101)ofthe
new organization and is often the distinctiveelementofthebestfirms(Hout
& Carter, 1995). In a recent survey,
human resource executives cited self-
managementskillsascrucialforfuture
managerial careers (Allred & Snow,
1996). Indeed, Luthans and Davis
(1979) have referred to self-management as “the missing link” (p. 43) in
organizationaleffectiveness.
Self-Management:AnOverview
Mills(1983)definedself-management
aseffortsbyanindividualtocontrolhis
or her own behavior. Self-management
involves assessing problems, establishing goals, monitoring time and environmental issues that may hinder the
accomplishment of those goals, and
using reinforcement and punishment to
regulate goal progress and attainment
(Frayne,1991).Bytheeducators’training the students to evaluate, monitor,
and regulate themselves, the students
becomeresponsibleandaccountablefor
theirownprogressandperformanceand
essentiallybecomeself-managers.
The first step in self-management is
to conduct a self-assessment. Through
this stage, an individual discovers the
problems that stand between the individualandthegoalsthatheorshewants
to accomplish. This discovery leads to
thesecondstepofestablishingandcommittingtospecificgoals(Kanfer,1987).
Iftheindividualdoesnotsetandcommit to these goals, the next step—selfmonitoring—will have little impact on
theindividual’sbehavior(Simon,1979).
Self-monitoring involves individuals’
active monitoring of their own time
andenvironmentalmanagementandthe
identificationofissuesorsituationsthat
may prevent individuals from reaching
theirgoals.Thefourthandfinalstepin
self-management is the self-evaluation
September/October2007
11
stage, wherein the individuals evaluate
thesuccessoftheirplanandrefinetheir
tacticsifnecessary.
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 23:01 11 January 2016
ImpactofSelf-Management
Training
Over the past 20 years, organizational behavior scholars have advocated
the use of self-management training in
organizational and educational settings
(Luthans&Davis,1979;Manz&Sims,
1980; Mills, 1983). Such scholars see
self-management as a way to decrease
theneedforemployeesupervision,meet
employee demands for autonomy and
challengingjobs,andhelpmeetdemands
for home offices and telecommuting.
Researchersofoccupationalrealmshave
found that self-management training
leads to increases in job performance
anddecreasesincounterproductivework
behavior, such as absenteeism (Frayne
& Geringer, 2000; Frayne & Latham,
1987).
Self-management skills have also
beenassociatedwithsuccessintheacademic realm. Self-management has led
toimprovedacademicproductivityand
achievement (Dean, Malott, & Fulton,
1983). Self-management programs that
are specifically designed to increase
theamountoftimethatstudentsspend
in studying have had positive results
(Champlin & Karoly, 1975; Miller &
Gimpl, 1972). Researchers have found
that more than 70% of participants in
self-management training programs
typicallyreachtheirdesiredgoalsafter
the training is complete (McGaghie,
Menges, & Dobroski, 1976; Rakos &
Grodek,1984).Todate,thepastefforts
of educators to teach these techniques
have been successful (e.g., Jones, Nelson,&Kazdin,1977;Miller&Gimpl;
O’Leary&Dubey,1979;Rosenbaum&
Drabman,1979),butrecentresearchon
teachingself-managementinthecollege
classroomappearstobelacking.
Becauseofthetimelinessandimportancethateducatorsplaceonthelearning and mastery of self-management
skills in today’s workplace, it seems
essentialthatcurrentresearchersexplore
the feasibility and success of teaching self-management in our college
classrooms. Because of the applicability of self-management skills in both
12
JournalofEducationforBusiness
occupational and academic realms, the
importance of self-management skills
that employers cite, and the success of
trainingsuchskillsthatresearcherscite,
masteryoftheseself-managementskills
isanimportantelementforinclusionin
collegiate level education. Employers
are clearly sending the message that
theywillrequiretheseskillsfromtheir
futureemployees,makingittheresponsibilityoftheeducatorstofindeffective
waystoteachstudentstheseskills.
Thepurposeofthisstudyistwofold:
(a)todiscussthedevelopmentandsuccessful integration of individual selfmanagementtrainingintoamanagement
education course and (b) to assess the
impactoftheseself-managementtutorialsonstudentreactionsandlearning.
IntegratingSelf-Management
TrainingintheClassroom
I compiled a series of four self-
management tutorials to teach self-
management skills and to reinforce
several important concepts in a management course. The goal of the tutorials was to help students understand
the importance and impact of learning
self-managementandcomprehendhow
these skills are based in management
theory.Usingthestagesofself-managementastheframework,Idevelopedfour
corresponding tutorials for use in an
introductory management course. (See
Appendix for example. Appendix also
provides an overview of the tutorials
that this article does not present fully.
Contact Dr. Megan Gerhardt for more
detailsonadditionalonlinetutorials.)
A total of 223 undergraduates participated in the self-management tutorials.
Each tutorial was designed to teach the
core principles of a self-management
stage and to give students the opportunitytopracticetheskillsassociatedwith
mastering each step. The four stages of
self-managementbuildoneachother,and
eachtutorialpresentedimportantinformationandskillsnecessaryforthestudentto
understand and develop. To ensure that
studentswereadequatelyexposedtoeach
ofthefourtopics,thetutorialshadatwopart design: an out-of-class component
andanin-classcomponent.Thestudents
were required to take all tutorials and
weregivenpointsforcompletion.
Fortheout-of-classcomponent,students completed a set of online exercises. The online tutorials provided
detailed information about the nature
of each stage and then provided the
students with hands-on opportunities
to apply the concepts to themselves
andtotheirlives.Thein-classcomponent of the tutorial took place during
the class period immediately following the completion of the out-of-class
assignment. In class, the instructor
discussedconceptsofthecurrentself-
managementstageandstudentsviewed
theoverallresponsesoftheirclassmates
tothehands-onexercisesthattheyhad
completed online. The instructor conductedaclassdiscussiononwhyeach
set of skills was important for academicandcareersuccess.
In the following sections, I review
the overall concepts that each tutorial
discusses. In addition, I review student
reactionsandinputassociatedwiththeir
onlinetutorialexercises.
Tutorial1:Self-Assessment
The first self-management tutorial presents general information about
self-management and also takes students through the first step of self-
management: self-assessment. In the
tutorial, the instructor presents self-management as a way to control and manage one’s own behavior in life and at
work and discusses the importance that
21st-century organizations place on self-
managed workers, emphasizing the students’ ability to learn and apply these
skills.Thepurposeoftheself-assessment
stageistoenablestudentstopinpointtheir
ownpersonalareasforimprovement.
During the online component of
Tutorial 1 (see Appendix), students
listed areas such as better studying
skills, better exam performance, less
procrastination, and better learning
skillsasareasthattheywereinterested
in improving: Of the students, 74%
indicated that making such changes
wasveryimportanttothem;26%indicated that making these changes was
somewhat important; 69% of students
indicated that they would be willing
to exert a great deal of effort to make
these changes; and 31% were willing
toexertsomeeffort.
Duringthein-classsession,theinstructor emphasized that self-management is
an individualized process, with everyone
accountableforone’sbehaviorandchoices.Thestudentsandinstructordiscussed
that although their current areas of concernwereprimarilyacademic,theseconcerns would later evolve as they entered
the workplace. Researchers have proven
self-management skills to be effective in
academicandoccupationalcontexts,and
studentsandtheinstructordiscussedthis
wideapplicability.
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Tutorial2:GoalSetting
Thesecondstageoftheself-managementprocessisgoalsetting.Thisstageis
directlytiedtotheconceptofindividual
motivation.Oneofthemoststudiedand
highly supported theories of individual
motivationisgoal-settingtheory(Locke,
1968;Locke&Latham,1990).Goal-settingtheorystatesthatindividualswhoset
effectivegoalstendtoaccomplishmore
thandoindividualswhodonotseteffectivegoals.
DuringtheonlinecomponentofTutorial 2, students were introduced to the
coreconceptsofgoal-settingtheoryand
the standard characteristics of effective
goals: specific, measurable, attainable,
realistic,andtime-oriented(S.M.A.R.T.).
Thestudentswereaskedtosettwoacademicgoalsandtorevisethesegoalsto
meetthestandardeffectivegoalcriteria.
By the end of the online component of
Tutorial 2, students had set two goals
that were personally important to them
thatmeteffectivegoalcriteria.
During the in-class session, students
discussed the impact of goal setting
on performance, and the instructor
reviewedresearchsupportingthiseffect
(e.g., Klein, Wesson, Hollenbeck, &
Alge, 1999; Latham & Baldes, 1975).
Toemphasizethewideapplicabilityof
these skills, students and the instructor
talkedaboutcreatinglifegoalsandacademic goals. The instructor asked studentstogeneratelistsoflifegoalsand
revisethesegoalstofittheS.M.A.R.T.
criteria.
Tutorial3:Self-Monitoring
Onthepathtosuccessfulgoalattainment,thereareoftenmanybarriers.Itis
unrealistic for one to expect to simply
set a goal and reach it without bumps
along the way. To be successful as a
self-manager,individualsmustbeready
for potential obstacles and be skilled
in the techniques that are necessary to
overcome these obstacles. Determining
whether one is adequately ready and
skilledisthepurposeofthethirdstage
ofself-management:self-monitoring.
During the online component of
Tutorial 3, the students were asked to
honestly assess how they spent their
time and whether their current environments and time management practices helped them accomplish their
goals.Thestudentswereaskedtorate
their current time-management skills
andhowoftentheytendtouseproven
time-management techniques (such as
keeping a planner or schedule). The
students were also asked to evaluate
their current living and studying environmentsandtogenerateideasforhow
they could better manage their time
andenvironmenttosuccessfullyreach
the goals that they had previously set
forthemselves.
During the in-class session, students
discussedtheimpactofpoortimemanagementonstressandjobperformance
and revealed to the whole class their
overall class responses about their
time- and environmental-management
tendencies. Of students, 4.2% felt that
they were “very successful” at managingtheirtime,and53%ofstudentsfelt
theywerenotstudyingasmuchasthey
needed to. The student responses also
revealedthatthestudentsvariedintheir
perceptionoftheidealenvironmentfor
studying:Somestudentspreferredabsolutequiet,whereasothersneedednoise
to concentrate. The instructor emphasized the importance of understanding
theiruniquepreferencesandtendencies.
Studentsdiscussedhowtobestmanage
their schedules and surroundings to be
as successful as possible in reaching
theirgoals.
Tutorial4:Self-Regulation
The final stage in self-management
is learning self-regulation skills. The
principles of self-regulation are closely linked to learning theory, specifically the theory of operant conditioning (Skinner, 1938). Self-monitoring
involvestheevaluationofone’sprogress
toward successful goal attainment and
the use of the principles of reinforcement and punishment to keep behavior
on track. If individuals are progressingtowardtheaccomplishmentoftheir
goals, they should reward or reinforce
this behavior to increase the likelihood
that such behavior will be repeated. If
thebehaviorisnotleadingtowardgoal
accomplishment, such behavior should
besubjecttoapunishment,whichwill
increasethelikelihoodthatsuchbehaviorwillnotberepeated.
This final piece of self-management
integrates all of the previous steps. To
beasuccessfulself-manager,individuals
must(a)beawareofareasforimprovement,(b)seteffectivegoals,(c)monitor
theirtimeandsurroundingstoallowthem
to reach those goals, and (d) actively
evaluatewhethertheirbehaviorisgetting
themclosertogoalachievement.
DuringtheonlinecomponentofTutorial 4, the students were instructed to
honestly evaluate how they were progressingtowardtheirgoalsandhowsuccessful their attempts at self-monitoring
hadbeen.Thestudentswerealsoasked
togeneratepotentialreinforcementsand
punishmentsthattheycouldusetokeep
themselvesontrack.
During the in-class session, the
instructorreviewedtheself-management
steps that the students had completed
throughoutthesemester.Inaddition,the
studentsdiscussedtheoverallprogressof
theclass.Ofthestudents,41%reported
that they were actively pursuing both
of the academic goals they had set for
themselves earlier in the semester, 57%
reported pursuing one of the two goals,
and45%reportedthattheynowfeltthat
theywereaboveaverageintheircurrent
time-managementskills.
Students and the instructor discussed
the relationship of self-evaluation to the
conceptsoflearningtheoryandhowproviding rewards for the achievement of
self-setgoalswouldhelpstudentsbecome
moresuccessfulatself-management.Students shared with the class samples of
rewards that they had chosen, such as
a night out with friends. Many students
felt that knowing that they were making
progresstowardimportantgoalsandfeelingthattheyweresuccessfullymanaging
theirtimewererewardsinthemselves.
September/October2007
13
Studentsandtheinstructordiscussed
whattrulymadeself-managementeffective:knowingtheskills,activelypracticing the skills, believing that self-managementwillleadtosuccess,andhaving
adesireandwillingnesstoputforththe
effort and practice to become a skilled
self-manager.Theinstructorencouraged
the students to evaluate what they had
learned and determine what aspects of
thisprocessworkedwellforthem.
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ImplicationsandImpact
After completing four self-management tutorials over the semester,
students learned about the concepts
and importance of self-management
skills—bothfortheiracademicsuccess
andfortheirlong-termcareersuccess.
However, as is the case with any new
teachingtool,itwasnotinitiallyclear
eitherwhatkindofanimpacttheselfmanagement tutorials had on the students or what their perceptions of the
trainingwere.
Toassesstheimpactoftraining,Kirkpatrick (1996) identified four potential
levels of training evaluation: reactions,
learning, behavior, and organizational
results.InstructorsassessLevels1and2
immediatelyaftertraining,whereasthey
evaluateLevels3and4latertoevaluate
transferoftraining(Noe,1999).Forthe
purposesofthisstudy,thefocuswason
Kirkpatrick’s first two levels: reactions
andlearning.
A total of 223 undergraduate students
ataMidwesternuniversitycompletedthe
tutorialsandasurvey.Demographicinformationrevealedthatofthissample,45.1%
werewomenand54.9%weremen.Also,
93.3% were White and 6.7% were of
other races or ethnicities. The mean age
was 20.24 years (SD = 1.52 years). The
firstleveloftrainingevaluationistrainee
reactions (Kirkpatrick, 1996), because
learning is in part a function of positive
reactions to training (Alliger & Janak,
1989).Ofallstudentssurveyed,83%felt
that the self-management skills that they
had learned were useful and planned to
use the skills in the future. Of all, 63%
indicated that they had put forth either
someoragreatdealofeffortinlearning
the skills.Also, 64% indicated that they
felt the skills had a positive impact on
their academic performance. Last, 73%
14
JournalofEducationforBusiness
ofstudentsfeltthattheself-management
tutorials had a positive impact on their
experiencewiththemanagementcourse.
The second level of training evaluationislearning(Kirkpatrick,1996),an
evaluation of the students’ mastery of
skillandconcept.AccordingtoCampbell(1988),themostimportantelement
ofanytrainingprogramistodetermine
whethertraineeshavelearnedthematerialbeingtaught.Todeterminewhether
students’useofself-managementskills
increased after the training, instructors
administered a simple 4-item measure
of the use of self-management skills
before and after the training. I conductedapaired-samplesttesttoevaluateself-managementscoresbeforeand
after the training. Results indicated a
significant increase in self-management scores following the self-management training, t(222) = −3.55, p