Are students really overloaded

The ongoing reform of higher education in Lithuania is aimed at improving the quality of studies. The main actor of this process is a student, and the quality of studies depends mainly on his/her motivation to obtain knowledge and skills. The aim of the research was to analyse the patterns of studying, gaining knowledge, and acquiring skills in second-year students at Kaunas University of Technology, the Faculty of Social Sciences. The survey was carried out in 2008 in the fall semester. Diaries were received from 209 students. The diary used for data collection was adapted in 2004 by Statistics Lithuania in accordance to EUROSTAT Guidelines on Harmonised European Time Use Surveys. Data analysis was performed separating diary days to weekdays (150 respondents) and weekend-days (59 respondents). The results of the analysis showed that during weekdays, 44.3% of an average diary day is spent for personal care (including sleep), 15% – for studying, 8.9% – for travel, 8.2% – for domestic work, 7.4% – for leisure, etc. During weekend-days, the distribution of diary day was as follows: 50.2% of the time was spent for personal care, 9% – for domestic work, 6.9% – for travel, 10.1% – for leisure, 6% – for studying, etc. The main conclusions drawn from the research are: a) only the time of classes, lectures, and homework (and none of the free time) is devoted to studying; b) efforts are needed to change priorities of time use during university studies in Lithuania.