Use of One Week's Time Among Specific Groups of College Students

The purpose of this research was to investigate the time usage skills of undergraduate students in college marching band. Specifically, this study investigated and compared the time usage of collegiate marching band members, music majors, and non-music undergraduate students. Participants (N = 80) were undergraduate students at a large southern university in the United States. Data were collected through a researcher-designed time log. Using the time log, participants recorded hourly activities for one week. Time logs provided a simple format for participants to easily and quickly record activities in several categories. The time log also contained a series of several demographic questions. Results of this study indicated that non-marching band students had more free time than marching band students. Non-marching band participants allocated more time for leisure-related activities than marching band participants. Compared to other activities, results indicated that participants spent the most time sleeping and engaged in leisure related activities. These results are consistent with related research, which found that people spend most of their time sleeping and in leisure. Although this study occurred during homecoming weekend, marching band students appeared to have adequate time to study, even with the sizeable amount of weekly rehearsals and weekend performances. Marching band students used more of their free time to study and complete homework compared to non-marching band students who chose to watch TV or socialize with friends. Non-marching band music majors devoted more time to practice than marching band music majors; however, total instrumental playing time was significantly greater for marching band music majors. Results also indicated that the opinions of others, such as parents and high school guidance counselors, may have influenced college students' decision to enroll in marching band. Further results indicated that students not enrolled in marching band may not use marching band rehearsal hours for academic-related activities. Marching band students appeared to use their free time more effectively than non-marching band students, choosing to study and complete homework, rather than engaging in leisure activities. Further research should continue to identify time usage challenges for college marching band members to further understand the process used by those students to make time use decisions.