The effect of the group guidance program based on reality therapy to reduce academic procrastination behavior

The main purpose of this study is to examine the effect of group counseling program aimed at reducing academic procrastination based on reality therapy for secondary school students on academic procrastination. In this study, this concept which is important for each level of the education system, was examined specifically for high school students and it was aimed to reduce procrastination behaviors by raising awareness about procrastination behaviors. Participants determined in the experimental and control group in the study were selected among 218 students studying at the Anatolian High School in Şahinbey District of Gaziantep in 2020-2021 academic year. Personal Information Form and Academic Procrastination Scale were applied to 218 students at 9th, 10th and 11th grades. Then, the students who wanted to participate in the study voluntarily were determined. Along with verbal consent, written consent was obtained from the participants by using the "Individual Interview Informed Consent Form" and "Parent Consent Form". Then, among the students who scored one standard deviation above the average score obtained from their answers to the academic procrastination scale, they were assigned to two groups, one experimental group an one control group, by drawing lots. It was ensured that there were 10 participants in each group. 8 weeks after the end of the 8 week group counseling program, a follow-up test was conducted to determine the permanence. In this study, Academic Procrastination Scale Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient was found as .86. According to the results of this study, it was seen that the psychoeducation program developed based on Reality Therapy had an effect on reducing the academic procrastination of high school students in the experimental group. The academic procrastination posttest score averages of the experimantal group participants participating in the group counseling program are significantly lower than the pretest mean scores. Keywords: Academic procrastination, reality therapy, high school students, group guidance