Scientific Narratives in the Study of Student Time Management: A Critical Review

Abstract

Effective time management plays a major role in the performance society, and not only psychological, but also socio-cultural and pedagogical factors are involved in students' effective organization of time. Mainstream scientific discourse has argued that effective learning depends to a large extent on students' organizational skills. However, researchers have paid scant attention to the socio-cultural and pedagogical aspects that are involved in the development of these skills. The purpose of this article is to critically analyze the dominant scientific narratives on the study of the effective use of time by students. To this end, this study was designed based on a critical review of the literature from 1990 to 2021. The Web of Science and Scopus databases were consulted. A total of 51 papers met the inclusion criteria. The results suggest that learning to organize and optimize academic time is important for social coordination, well-being and achievement of students' academic and life goals. However, the acceleration of instructional time has a major emotional impact on the school population. The conclusion is the need to investigate the subjective and collective experiences of students on the emotional impact that speed, work overload and multitasking have on their academic and personal lives.