More than four out of 10 high school students who improved their academic grades secured additional study time by cutting back on online content such as YouTube and games, a survey showed.
According to a survey conducted by Jinhaksa of 1,061 high school seniors whose grades had improved, released Monday, 88.2% of respondents said their study time had increased by more than one hour compared with the past during the grade-improvement process.
Among them, 36.7% said their study time had increased by two to three hours, the largest share, followed by one to two hours (26.9%) and more than three hours (24.6%).
These students increased their study time by cutting back on hobbies, with particularly sharp reductions in short-form video viewing and mobile gaming. In fact, 42.6% of respondents secured study time by reducing online content use such as games and YouTube, followed by sleeping in (22.7%), meeting friends (12.0%), and weekend rest or outings (9.1%).
The survey also found that internal motivation plays a key role in improving grades. When asked what prompted them to focus on raising their grades, 31.0% cited "setting a target university and major," followed by a sense of crisis from declining grades (27.5%), success in a particular subject (19.8%), competition with peers (10.9%), and encouragement or advice from others (7.5%). "Given that the most cited cause of grade improvement was a 'target university or major,' we can see that students' study attitudes changed when they had a specific place they wanted to go, rather than a vague will or direction," a Jinhaksa official said. "The fact that externally given motivations such as competition with friends or parental encouragement showed relatively low rates suggests that stronger change is produced when sustainable learning motivation is formed from within."
The survey also found that the habit of reviewing lessons immediately after class is more effective for improving grades than so-called cramming during exam periods. Before their grades improved, most students reviewed during exam periods (64.8%), while only 13.1% reviewed immediately after class or on the day of instruction. After their grades improved, however, the share of those reviewing immediately after class or on the same day reached 48.5%, while the share of exam-period review fell sharply to 22.8%.
