Effects Of Co-Curricular Activities On Learning Process

Universities are meant to provide quality education and ensure holistic development of the students. One of the ways is by encouraging the students to participate in co-curricular activities. This is because co-curricular activities could affect students’ learning effectiveness. According to Leung, Ng and Chan (2011), the definition of learning effectiveness is the psychosocial components that affect students’ academic performance, motivation and self-efficacy. The more the student’s involvement in college activities, the greater will be the student’s learning.

As students, they need to be healthy in order to perform better in academic by joining co-curricular activities especially in sports. This is because according to Farman et al. (2018), sport activities enhance the working capacity of crucial body systems and boost the degree of alertness. They also stated that physically and mentally alert students like to remain present in their classes. Moreover, students who participate in co-curricular activities have higher probability of college attendance and a lower possibility of dropout (Kariyana, Maphosa & Mapuranga, 2012). This is because students who never skip classes tend to have more understanding in studies. Furthermore, according to Farman et al. (2018), participating in co-curricular activities can improve student’s learning in specific areas such as industry experts giving their knowledge to the students. In addition, according to Leung et al. (2011), Farman et al. (2018) and Kariyana et al. (2012), co-curricular activities affect students’ self-efficacy in learning effectiveness. Involvement in co-curricular activities help to develop student’s confidence in a better way which is essential in their academic process. In academic studies, confidence is the most needed ingredient in academic success (Farman et al, 2018; Kariyana et al, 2012).

However, some researchers oppose the idea that co-curricular activities could improve academic performance. Based on Leung et al. (2011), there is no correlation between co-curricular participation and academic performance as students will be distracted in their regular study when they joining any activities in clubs and organisations. For example, some students are too immerse in doing co-curricular activities such as handling an event until they tend to neglect their studies. Other example is a student who is actively participate in any competition may be tired and lose concentration because of practises or training as it will affect their academic performances.