Assessment policies and academic performance within a single course: the role of motivation and self-regulation

Abstract

Despite the frequently reported association of characteristics of assessment policies with academic performance, the mechanisms through which these policies affect performance are largely unknown. Therefore, the current research investigated performance, motivation and self-regulation for two groups of students following the same statistics course, but under two assessment policies: education and child studies (ECS) students studied under an assessment policy with relatively higher stakes, a higher performance standard and a lower resit standard, compared with Psychology students. Results show similar initial performance, but more use of resits and higher final performance (post-resit) under the ECS policy compared with the psychology policy. In terms of motivation and self-regulation, under the ECS policy significantly higher minimum grade goals, performance self-efficacy, task value, time and study environment management, and test anxiety were observed, but there were no significant differences in aimed grade goals, academic self-efficacy and effort regulation. The relations of motivational and selfregulatory factors with academic performance were similar between both assessment policies. Thus, educators should be keenly aware of how characteristics of assessment policies are related to students' motivation, self-regulation and academic performance.

Assessment policies and academic progress: differences in performance and selection for progress

“…On the one hand, higher performance standards have consistently been associated with higher grades (Johnson and Beck 1988;Elikai and Schuhmann 2010;Kickert et al 2018Kickert et al , 2019, which should result in higher progress. Additionally, simulation studies have shown that more students progress in case of compensatory instead of conjunctive standards (Douglas and Mislevy 2010;Yocarini et al 2018).…”

Abnormal Behavior Recognition in Classroom Pose Estimation of College Students Based on Spatiotemporal Representation Learning

“…The scores of college students are closely correlated with self-discipline and time management. Good students generally have different behavior patterns from average students [20]. Therefore, the scores of college students can be reflected in daily life activities, such as smart card usage, Internet access, and cellphone/computer interactions.…”

Curricular fit perspective on motivation in higher education

“…In order to graduate, students need to pass assessments. Hence, it has been observed that the lowest grade that students would be satisfied with is never below the passing grade, regardless of what that passing grade is (Kickert et al, 2019). In other words, although students differ in which grade they are satisfied with, all students are motivated to perform.…”

“…Although we have explained that we believe all students are motivated to perform, we are not postulating that all students only want to pass. Many students wish to perform better than satisfactory (Kickert et al, 2019), and some students will want to put effort in unassessed learning, despite the curricular pressure to refrain from doing so. In fact, unassessed learning should be highly salient for students who are mindful of long-term benefits of learning.…”

“…However, most higher education students are more focused on their assessment performance than on their learning enjoyment or interest (Becker et al, 1968;Cilliers et al, 2010). This focus on assessment performance can take different forms: all students have the goal to pass assessments; a subsample of students aims for higher grades (Kickert et al, 2019). We suggest that the explanation for students' focus on assessment should not be sought in individual students, but in the description of which learning is rewarded by the curriculum, through grades.…”