For all students putting off writing that last final paper, help is on the way.

Bruce Tuckman, a motivation expert and professor of educational policy and leadership, designed a Web-based course, Educational Policy and Leadership 259, which is targeted toward students experiencing difficulty in college courses because of procrastination.

Procrastination is the No. 1 reason highly-qualified students have academic problems, Tuckman said.

He has spent almost three decades studying what motivates college students to learn.

“I’ve always been fascinated with motivation,” Tuckman said.

He came to Ohio State three years ago, when he was recruited to set up the Academic Learning Lab in the Younkin Success Center.

“We try to make them successful students while they’re in the class,” Tuckman said.

The class focuses on helping students improve their study skills, time and life management, motivation, and test-taking strategies. EPL 259 requires students to turn in more than 200 assignments which can only be completed on the computers in the Academic Learning Lab.

The course’s many requirements make it procrastinator-proof, Tuckman said.

“The course is designed to put them in a rhythm of managing their time, which helps with other classes too,” he said.

Since the class was first offered in autumn 2000, its enrollment has doubled each year, Tuckman said.

“I think one of the big reasons the course is popular is because it raises GPAs,” he said.

During a given quarter, students taking the course have a GPA 0.5 points higher (relative to prior cumulative GPA) than a matched group of students not taking the course.

Each teacher has a different approach to teaching the class, said Cricket Nardacci, an instructor for EPL 259 and a doctoral student in the College of Education.

“I spend my time focusing on individual needs of the students,” Nardacci said.

Students come into the class with many different levels of ability and past experience with these specific skills, she said.

“The neat thing about this class is it teaches skills that translate into other aspects of students’ lives,” Nardacci said.

Though the course is a lot of work, students have said they are appreciative of the results.

“It seems like a lot of work, but it really has helped with other classes,” said Jennifer Saunders, an undecided freshman.

Tuckman used 116 students taking EPL 259 as his subjects in a recent study.

The study revealed the worst procrastinators received significantly lower grades in the course than did low or moderate-level procrastinators.

The worst procrastinators were also more likely than others to use rationalizations such as “I work best under pressure” to justify their behavior. The worst procrastinators’ lower grades show their rationalizations are nothing more than wishful thinking, Tuckman said.

Last August, Tuckman presented the results of his study in Chicago at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, to an estimated attendance of 60,000.

To determine if you are a procrastinator, take Tuckman’s quiz which is available at all.successcenter.ohio-state.edu/dontdelay/Thatsme.html.