Literature review

Introduction

The relationship between extra-curricular activities and the impact it has on the academic
performance on students has been a discussion among, researchers, educators as well as
parents. Extra-curricular activities in schools vary from sports, art, music to clubs and
community service where, students engage in outside of school hours. Although the main focus
in the schools is mostly excelling in academics, effects of extra-curricular activities on academic
outcomes are recognized and being noticed more.

The aim of this literature review is to find out the effects of extra-curricular activities on
academic performance of the students and how they tend to alter academic performance of the
students in schools. While some studies show a positive correlation between these factors,
others show a negative correlation, with respect to some factors such as the type of activities
students participate in.

By going through current research, some themes were recognized along with the findings. With
the help of this literature review, the aim is to find out any potential advantages and
disadvantages with respect to extra-curricular activities and to provide a thorough
understanding of these subjects. Overall, the aim of writing this literature review is to shed light
on this topic for the educators, policy makers and other stakeholders by providing implications
of extra-curricular activities for educational outcomes of the students to support the students in
the best practices and in their educational experiences.

According to (Tanner, 2017) , he emphasizes the importance of extra-curricular activities will

have on their future opportunities they might face in upcoming future for success in life. He
stresses that parents should also think about ways to help and foster their children in the best
manners that they could thrive with such as the participation on extra-curricular activities.

Definition of Extra-curricular activities

While we are on finding the impact of extra-curricular activities, it is essential to have a look
at what are extra-curricular activities. According to (Barabás, 2020), Báthory (1997) has
described extra-curricular activities as activities or learning happening beyond classroom walls.
Moreover, to emphasize the importance of extra-curricular activities he mentioned that classroom
learning alone cannot be motivated without any extra-curricular or outside classroom activities. He
added that these activities are mostly planned by the school with respect to given circumstances or
various purposes. Báthory (1997) says, these activities either could be sponsored by the government,
community projects and even by the school itself.

(Gorski, 2021) explains that participating in extracurricular activities is a form of a behavioral

engagement and also a cognitive and emotional engagement which foresees the academic
outcomes of a student. However, he believes that the extent of the effects of these activities on
the academic performance might alter with different type of activities. He mentioned that there
has been a vast amount of literature which showed a positive correlation between behavioral
engagements and academic performance. In addition to these definitions, (Vicente & Barroso,
2020) described extra-curricular activities as activities that students involve outside the
national curriculum. He adds that extra-curricular activity is also one of a factor which improve
students’ academic performance to a greater extent.

Effects of extra-curricular activities and academic performance

(Gorski, 2021) did a study to how behavioral engagement expressed in the form of participating
in a debate team affected a student’s emotional and cognitive development. This study was done
through ethnographic observations and interviews with two high school debate teams in
Chicago. Through his research, (Gorski, 2021) found that the students who participated in
debate has a positive effect on their emotional and cognitive engagement. He argues that, his
research is a way to justify another past research which shows that the emotional and cognitive
engagement improvement has a contribution to the academic performance of a student. So
ultimately showing a positive correlation between an extra-curricular activity such as debating
practices has a positive effect on, not only on cognitive and emotional development but also a
student’s academic success.

(Hanline & Cuevas, 2020) included a brief discussion on previous research published by
Metsäpelto and Pulkkinen in 2012 which concluded that there is a significant correlation between
participation in extra-curricular activities such as arts and academic clubs and their academic
outcomes and skills. This was backed up by (Hanline & Cuevas, 2020)’s research where they
found out high school students who participated in extra-curricular activities in a North
Georgian high school does show a positive correlation with their GPA. However, (Hanline &
Cuevas, 2020) highlighted the exception of participation in athletic extra-curricular activities
did not show any correlation with academic performance.

(Hsu, Lee, Bentley, & Acosta, 2019) draws data from a study done back in 2002 for 10th
graders and studied if the participation in school-based extra-curricular activities had an
effect on their mathematic achievement. When this study was continued for a short term of
two years until the 10th graders were in 12th grade, (Hsu, Lee, Bentley, & Acosta, 2019), found
out that, student who spent an average hours (6 to 15 hours per week) on extra-curricular
activities showed a positive correlation compared to the students who spent less than 6 hours
or more than 15 hours. However, in the long-term data collection over 10 years, they only
found that the students who participated in an average of 1 to 15 hours per week in extra-
curricular activities in school showed more likelihood of achieving higher education
credentials.

(Vicente & Barroso, 2020) highlighted some of the results of previous research which showed
that the students who participate more in extra-curricular activities shows a better academic
performance and dedication. He also added that it has been proven that there is a strong
positive effect between participation in these activities with the low rate of dropping out of
schools. Moreover, his literature emphasized on some reports which concluded students with
good academic performance are more likely to be motivated to participate in extra-curricular
activities such as physical activities. These students are highly likely to have better
concentration skills and critical thinking and faster learning process eventually making them
better at subjects like mathematics and English. Nevertheless, (Vicente & Barroso, 2020)
mentioned that there is also a chance that over exercising might show a negative effect on
academics.

(Tanner, 2017) compiled a set of past research findings about the relation between
participating in extra-curricular activities and academic performance of students. According
to him, some positive effect of extra-curricular activities on academics includes, fostering
sentiments of belonging, fostering self-confidence, giving balance, and raising one’s sense of
obligation and responsibility. However, there were two factors mentioned by (Tanner, 2017)
which might have a negative impact on academic success. Having an overscheduled
timetable and having a narrow sense of identity may affect badly on academics. Having an
oversheduled timetable might decrease the time allocated for home-works and other
academemic school work. Similarly, there are students who like to be identified with the
extra-curricular activity they are involved in rather than to be identified a student. This could
decrease the focus from studies and might impact negatively on academics. (Tanner, 2017).

In his literature, (Tanner, 2017) mentioned five past studies done in different times and
settings showing that physical activities have a positive effect on their grades since involving
in those kind of activities makes the student mentally and physically fit. In one of these
studies he found out that, it was concluded that, more physical activation in the students’
adolescents lives increases the chance to get better grades when they are achieving their
higher studies. On the other hand, there were two of the studies recognized by (Tanner, 2017)
that highlighted exact opposite. (Tanner, 2017)

The results are not conclusive, some studies report negative effects results, indicating that
sometimes extracurricular activities have negative consequences on children, such as lack of
concentration, lack of good sleep, tiredness and stress. (Vicente & Barroso, 2020)

Factors affecting motivation to participate in Extra-curricular activities.

(Hanline & Cuevas, 2020) did a study in 2020 to determine if there was a relation between
motivation factors of participation on academic achievement of high schoolers in a North
Georgian high school. His studies shows that some motivational factors of participation in
extra-curricular activities. That includes, high performance in academics, wanting to
socialize, wanting to maintain a positive reputation, increased feeling of belonging, and
desiring to continue studyies after high school. Among these factors, sense of belonging and
adult social support showed a positive correlation to the academic performance of these high
schoolers which was measured using their GPA.

(Aoyagi, et al., 2020) conducted a qualitative study to find about some motivational factors
perceived to influence participation in school-based extracurricular sports participation in
Japan. This study interviewed a total of 23 students from three junior high schools which was
chosen using purposive snowball sampling technique to differ the characteristics of the
participants. These students were involved in around nine sports. After interviewing these
students, (Aoyagi, et al., 2020) noticed some internal and external factors which affected
participation of these students in school based extracurricular activities. Internal factors
include attraction towards sports, continuity and responsibility, challenging spirit, sense of
advancement, and physical condition. Likewise, the external factors concluded includes, team
atmosphere, peer support and encouragement, peer characteristics, coaching policy and
content, practice material, school-related events and also weather. The details of these factors
and sub-factors can be achieved from the journal by (Aoyagi, et al., 2020).

(Vicente & Barroso, 2020) carried out research on the topic, extra-curricular activities and
academic performance involving almost 620 students in the age gap 10 to 12 years in Spain. It
was qualitative study where; students were provided with forms to be filled regarding the
research questions such as how many hours they spent on an extra-curricular activity in a given
time span. Their academic data was collected from three subjects’ marks, Spanish, Mathematics
and English. This study analyzed the relation between type of school (private or state school),
gender and academic performance. The results of this study showed that, girls were involved in
more extra-curricular activities than boys, however the time spent on these activities were
more in boys in gender wise. Moreover, findings show that, in private schools the time spent on
extra-curricular activities are more than the state schools. In addition, the time spent on extra-
curricular activities didn’t show any correlation with academic performance in (Vicente &
Barroso, 2020)’s study.

Conclusion,

 Summarize the main findings and insights from the literature review.
 Reinforce the significance of the education-related topic and its implications
for research and practice.
 Reflect on any overarching patterns or recurring themes identified across the
literature.
 Suggest areas for future research based on gaps or limitations in the existing
literature.

Implications.

o Discuss the practical implications of the literature review for educators,

policymakers, or other stakeholders in the field of education.
o Identify potential applications or strategies derived from the findings of
the literature review.
o Highlight any recommendations or best practices suggested by the
literature.