The Relation between Academic Procrastination of University Students and Their Assignment and Exam Performances: The Situation in Distance and Face-to-Face Learning Environments

Abstract

The relation between assignment and exam performances of the university students and their academic procrastination behaviors in distance and face-to-face learning environments was investigated in this study. Empirical research carried out both in face-to-face and online environments have generally shown a negative correlation between academic procrastination and academic performance. However, the effect of academic procrastination on assignments in distance learning setting has not been analyzed extensively. To understand the interaction between academic procrastination and the learning environment; assignment and exam performances of eighty-eight university students in face-to-face (FtF) and distance learning (DL) environments were investigated. According to the findings of the study, students’ academic procrastination and assignment scores were negatively correlated in both environments but especially in DL setting. Contrary to this, academic procrastination and exam scores were correlated to each other only in FtF environment. On the other hand, there was no correlation between total assignment and exam scores for DL group, while a medium positive correlation was found in FtF group. The findings of binary logical regression analysis demonstrated that predictive value of the DL environment for assignment score is much stronger than academic procrastination behavior of students.