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Online teaching, procrastination and student achievement

Author

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  • De Paola, Maria
  • Gioia, Francesca
  • Scoppa, Vincenzo

Abstract

Despite growing consensus in the public debate that self-discipline is key to succeeding in an online learning environment, the evidence available is very limited. We investigate the role of procrastination as a moderator of the impact of online teaching on student performance. We take advantage of the forced transition from traditional class-based to online teaching induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and adopt a difference-in-differences strategy using administrative data of four cohorts of students enrolled in an Italian University. We find that online teaching has reduced student performance by about 1.4 credits per semester on average (0.11 Standard Deviations). However, this aggregate effect masks great heterogeneity as the negative influence on performance varies significantly according to student tendency to procrastinate with online teaching being particularly detrimental for students affected by present-bias problems. The total negative effect for procrastinators amounts to more than 18% of the workload for a semester, so implying a potential delay of approximately two semesters in the expected date of graduation for students following an online as opposed to a face-to-face five-year Degree course.

Suggested Citation

  • De Paola, Maria & Gioia, Francesca & Scoppa, Vincenzo, 2023. "Online teaching, procrastination and student achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:94:y:2023:i:c:s0272775723000250
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2023.102378
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Novella, Rafael & Rosas-Shady, David & Freund, Richard, 2024. "Is online job training for all? Experimental evidence on the effects of a Coursera program in Costa Rica," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    2. Dalit Contini & Maria Laura Di Tommaso & Caterina Muratori & Daniela Piazzalunga & Lucia Schiavon, 2023. "A lost generation? Impact of COVID-19 on high school students' achievements," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 691 JEL Classification: I, Collegio Carlo Alberto.
    3. Alderighi, Lorenzo & Ballatore, Rosario M. & Tonello, Marco, 2023. "Hidden drop-out: Secondary education (unseen) failure in pandemic times," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1293, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. Galkiewicz, Agata & Marcus, Jan & Siedler, Thomas, 2024. "E-Learning at Universities: Does Starting with Difficult Questions Affect Student Performance?," IZA Discussion Papers 17479, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Online teaching; Procrastination; Students’ performance; COVID-19;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • D90 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - General
    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software

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