Research Report:

The leisure time activities of international university

students are different from the activities they did as
school student.

Name: Doan Thi Ngoc Anh

Class: EAP 5D

Student Number: 22054311

Teacher’s name: Nasser Pasandeh & Magda Hull

Contents Page

Abstract......................................................................................................................................3
Introduction...............................................................................................................................4
Methodology..............................................................................................................................6
Result..........................................................................................................................................7
Discussion.................................................................................................................................11
Reference.................................................................................................................................13
Appendix..................................................................................................................................14
Abstract

This research was conducted to investigate if the leisure time activities of international

university students are different from when they were school students. An online

questionnaire was designed to collect data from international students in EAP 5 classes. The

study involved a total of fifty students. The result showed that there were differ ences in the

university student’s choice for indoor and outdoor activities in comparison to when they were

school students. International university students preferred sedentary activities in their spare

time rather than physical activities. It is suggested that international universities should pay

attention to improving school facilities to help students easily engage in their entertainment

activities.

3
Introduction

The transition to university is regarded as a huge milestone in everyone’s life. Although it

brings changes in the development of students, it also causes stress in student life, especially

for international students ( Ilieva; Ignatov 2017). Leisure time activities are considered to

have a vital role to help students relieve stress, depression and improve quality of life. The

reason why this research is important is that it brings international universities a closer

understanding of their student life then they might have proper methods to maximize the

student’s experience. Moreover, students would be likely to comprehend the advantage of

entertainment activities and then decide how much time to spend on them and chose suitable

types of activity that are beneficial for the well-beings of students.

According to Zerengok, Guzel and Ozbey (2018), international university students who

actively participated in leisure time activities reported psychological and physical benefits.

Boelens et al. (2007) identified that the number of children who participated in organized

leisure-time activities had a lower risk of mental health problems than non-participants. The

finding of Grendova, Machajova and Bartkova (2021) investigated that university students

preferred indoor activities in their spare time which was the cause of the increase in

overweight and obesity.

However, the study by Zerengok, Guzel and Ozbey (2018) did not investigate the impact of

leisure time activities on high school students. Moreover, Boelens et al. (2007) did not

indicate the affection of free-time activities to mental health of international university

students. Also, the frequency of indoor and outdoor activities was not commented on the

finding of Grendova, Machajova and Bartkova (2021). Although much work has been done to

4
date, few studies were conducted to show the relationship between leisure time activities

students engaged in when they are university students and school students.

The purpose of this study was to compare the spare time activities of international college

students to when they were school students. The hypothesis was that the leisure time activity

of international university students was different from what they did in school activities.

5
Methodology

EAP 5 class’s international students at Western Sydney University were asked to do a survey

on 1st December 2022. The respondents were mostly Asian. The age of respondents is mostly

from 19 to 24 years old. The survey was about how international students used their leisure

time activities when they were school students and when they are international students. A

questionnaire was compiled and shared with foreign students on campus and online.

A form of the questionnaire consisted of 16 multiple-choice questions about gender, age,

nationality, and 5 types of small topics about the frequency of activity, types of indoor and

outdoor activities, how the respondents pay for the cost and who the respondents spent the

leisure activities with. The questionnaire was not tested before and changed.

It took university students 3 minutes to finish the questionnaire. Each student access the

online link and chose their own answer based on personal opinion.

In the end, fifty answers were collected. The data was presented on graphs andconverted to

percentages to investigate.

6
Result

The preference type of leisure time activities

60%
53% 53%
50%

40%

30%
25% 24%
22% 23%
20%

10%

0%
Indoor Outdoor Both

International University Student School Student

The bar graph shows the favorable types of entertainment activities of the respondents. An

equal percentage of international university students and school students reported preferring

both indoor and outdoor activities. The proportion of international university students and

school students who chose indoor activities accounted for 25% and 24% respectively. The

number of those who enjoyed outdoor activities was 22% for international university student

and 23% for school student.

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 Indoor activities respondents like to do when they
were school student and international university
student
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Listening to Board Games Online Games Social Media Reading Watching Others
music Books Movies

International University Student School student

The graph indicates the percentage of six types of indoor activities that the respondents like to

do when they were school students and international university students. In general, there was

a significant change in the respondent’s interest in listening to music, social media, and

reading books activity. The proportion of participants who spent their leisure-time to listen to

music when they are international college students was 78%, more than 10% when they were

school students. Social media was also a favorable activity for international university

students which accounted for 72% of total answers while the number of this section for school

students was only 52%. The participants also preferred to reading books when they were in

high school rather than at university.

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 Outdoor activities respondents like to do when they
were school student and international university
student
60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Swimming Hiking Camping Kayaking Cycling Fishing Going to the Others
Gym

International University Students School Students

The graph illustrates the percentage of types of physical activities students used to do when

they were school students and university students. Overall, there was a slight difference in

outdoor activities that the respondents preferred to do at home school and international

university school except for cycling and swimming. The percentage of respondents who chose

swimming as a leisure time activity in their home country comprised 38% which was 12%

higher than when they are international university students. The number of respondents who

enjoyed cycling in their spare time when they are university students was lower than when

they were school students which accounted for 24% and 38% respectively.

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 The frequency of leisure time activities
50%
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Everyday Once a week 2 -3 times a week Once a month

International university student School Student

The shown chart represents the differences in the frequency of leisure time activities the

participants spent in two stages of their school life. The percentage of international students

who spent their spare time activities every day was 20% while this number was taken for 33%

when they were school students. Most university students used 2-3 times a week for their

entertainment activities. 6% of respondents participated their leisure time activities once a

month.

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Discussion

This study was investigated to compare the leisure time activities of international college

students to when they were school students. The hypothesis was that the leisure time activities

of international university students were different from the activities they did as school

students.

On the whole, the respondents preferred indoor activities rather than outdoor activities. It is

consistent with the finding of Grendova, Machajova and Bartkova (2021) that university

students preferred indoor activities in their spare time. The possible reason might be because

of their characteristics and the change to new environment, they might favour spending time

for themself in a quiet atmosphere or feel loneliness and homesickness when they are at

international university school.

Another noticeable point was that the respondents took more time to use social media and

listen to music during their university life than in school life. There is a possibility that the

respondents are international students so they may usually connect with their friends and

family through social media. The reason why they prefer listening to music might be that they

want to relieve themselves after stressful classes. However, the participants were not much

interested in reading books in university in comparison to high school. It may be that they

have to face the language barrier when reading.

In contrast to the increase in some indoor activities, most respondents eliminated their outdoor

activities when they are international university students, especially swimming and cycling.

The explanation for this result might be that the current studying environment and material

facilities do not support them to continue the entertainment they used to do in their school life.

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The frequency of free time activities of university students was also lower than school

students. The reason might be that their course schedule is not suitable to maintain the

frequency of their leisure time activities.

From these findings, it is possible to suggest that the university should equip good facilities to

help international students maintain their hobbies. Moreover, they also should run many

outdoor activities to stimulate international students to be involved.

From the research, there are some limitations that are required to consider. Firstly, the number

of participants was not large enough to analyze the hypothesis. Also, all participants are Asian

so the report does not have information on other nationalities.

Although the research supported the hypothesis, future research should be done to research

leisure activities for international students who live in Australia.

12
Reference

Boelens, M, Smit, M.S, Windhorst, D.A, Jonkman, H.J, Hosman, C.M.H, Raat, H et al. 2022,
‘Associations between organised leisure-time activities and mental health problems in
children’. European Journal of Pediatrics, vol.181, no.11, pp. 3867 - 3877 viewed 8
December 2022, DOI10.1007/s00431-022-04591-9.

Grendova, K, Machajova, M, Bartkova, K 2021, ‘Analysis of the Association of Selected

Leisure Time Activities and Overweight in University Students’, Clinical Social Work and
Health Intervention, vol. 12, no.5, viewed 8 December 2022, DOI:10.22359/cswhi_12_5_04

Ilieva, I, Ignatov, G (2017), ‘PHYSICAL ACTIVITY DURING LEISURE TIME OF

STUDENTS FROM RUSE UNIVERSITY ANGEL KANCHEV AND SOFIA
UNIVERSITY ST. KLIMENT OHRIDSKI, BULGARIA’. Scientific Bulletin ‘Mircea cel
Batran’ Naval Academy, vol.20, no.2, pp. 31-34, viewed 8 December 2022,
DOI10.21279/1454-864x-17-i2-008.

Zerengok, D, Guzel, P, Ozbey, S 2018, ‘The Impact of Leisure Participation on Social

Adaptation of International Students’, Journal of Education and Training Studies, vol.6, no.2,
pp. 1, viewed 8 December 2022, DOI10.11114/jets.v6i2.2680

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Appendix

1. What is your gender?

* Woman

* Man

* Non-binary

* Prefer not to say

2. What is your age?

* under 18

* 19- 24

* 25-29

* over 30

3. How would you be best describe yourself?

* Asian

* European

* South American

* North American

* African

4. What did you usually do in your leisure time, when you were a school student?

* Outdoor activities

* Indoor activities

* Both

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5. What do you do in your leisure time now as a university student?

* Outdoor activities

* Indoor activites

* Both

6. What kind of outdoor activites did you like to do as a school student ? You can
choose more than one option.

* Swimming

* Hiking

* Camping

* Kayaking

* Cycling

* Fishing

* Going to the gym

* Other

7. What kind of outdoor activites did you like to do as a university student ? You can
choose more than one option.

* Swimming

* Hiking

* Camping

* Kayaking

* Cycling

* Fishing

* Going to the gym

* Other

15
8. What kind of indoor activites did you like to do as a school student? You can
choose more than one option.

* Listening to music

* Boards game

* Online games

* Social media

* Reading books

* Watching movies

* Other

9. What kind of indoor activites did you like to do as a university student ? You can
choose more than one option.

* Listening to music

* Boards game

* Online games

* Social media

* Reading books

* Watching movies

* Other

10. Is the expense of leisure activities higher as a university student than a school student?

* Higher than before

* Lower than before

* No difference

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11. Who paid the cost of leisure time activities as a school student?

* Myself

* Parents

* Both

12. Who pays the cost of leisure time activities now as a university student?

* Myself

* Parents

* Both

13. How often did you did leisure activities when you were a school students?

* Everyday

* Once a week

* 2 or 3 times a week

* Once a month

14. How often do you do leisure activities now as a university student?

* Everyday

* Once a week

* 2 or 3 times a week

* Once a month

15. Did you do leisure activities alone or with others when you were a school student?

* By myself

* With others

* Both

17
16. Do you do this leisure activities alone or with others when you were a university
student?

* By myself

* With others

* Both

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