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Ditch the deadline
Should universities drop assignment due dates ?
By Emilie Lauer
Removing assignment due dates reduces students ’ stress and anxiety while giving staff more flexibility around lectures and marking , a new study has shown .
The study , conducted by Central Queensland University , focused on ‘ hyperflexible ’ learning which allows students access to their unit content in order to self-pace .
According study co-author CQU lecturer Amy Johnson , students often have to juggle between paid work , volunteering or caregiving responsibilities as well as studying , which triggers increased stress . Johnson spoke with Campus Review about hyperflexible learning and the pros and cons of ditching assignment due dates .
CR : How is a hyper flexible learning model beneficial for students ? AJ : We were really curious to explore what flexibility this model might offer students in regards to their ability to successfully complete their uni studies . Does it help them complete them faster or will it be a complete nightmare ? So what we were really aware of is that so many modern students , regardless of whether they ’ re school leavers or mature age students , they ’ re juggling paid work or volunteer roles or chronic illness or caregiving responsibilities as well as study . So that ability to self-manage their time and those competing priorities becomes really important . Some of the benefits that came out of the study is that it did really reduce stress for students . So either they found the process of asking for extensions really stressful , having to go and get doctor certificates was really , really challenging .
Being able to flexibly move some due dates around as they needed to , they actually found it significantly reduced a lot of their stress and anxiety . Something that surprised us was that students found a lot of benefit in being able to engage more deeply with the unit content rather than in a rush for a deadline .
Did this model of learning present any risks for students ? Procrastination is absolutely a risk
Flexibility around due dates means for an individualised approach to learning .
for students and maybe that stress of leaving it to the last minute when they ’ ve suddenly got a whole term of assignments to deal with at once is a lot . We didn ’ t find that to be too much of an issue in the study , which was great . We did identify one of the risks was also their ability to receive timely feedback . So you know , submit assessment one , you get some grades and some feedback which you then can incorporate in to assessment two or three . Whereas if those assessments are submitted one after the other in quick succession , that might impact on that . But most significantly , the biggest risk for students was that isolation and that lack of engagement between the cohorts . So sort of flexibility around due dates means for quite an individualised approach to learning . And so that lack of engagement between the cohorts was a bit of a risk for them . And of course we
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