Any Time, Any Place, Any Pace: How Students Use Pace in Online Courses

Citation

Cuccolo, K. & DeBruler, K. (2026). Any Time, Any Place, Any Pace: How Students Use Pace in Online Courses. Michigan Virtual. https://michiganvirtual.org/research/publications/any-time-any-place-any-pace-how-students-use-pace-in-online-courses

Abstract

In self-paced online courses with end-of-term (as opposed to weekly) assignment deadlines, students can navigate their course at any pace that works best for them. This flexibility means that students can submit assignments whenever and in any order they like, although how they leverage it has not been well documented. To address this gap, the current study examined the timing and order of assignment submissions among students in highly enrolled Michigan Virtual courses. Students who submitted an assignment in the first week of the course had higher final scores than those who did not, suggesting that instructors and mentors should monitor student engagement during that week. Looking across the entire course, three distinct trends in assignment submissions emerged based on students’ final course scores. While students looked similar at the start of the course, by week four, clear differences in the proportion of assignments submitted emerged and were solidified by week seven. Students who demonstrated content mastery submitted more assignments than their peers who passed and who failed. The majority (99%) of students also took advantage of the ability to submit assignments in any order. The proportion of assignments submitted out of order, however, showed a small negative association with the final course score, suggesting that this may not be ideal behavior for all students. Instructors and mentors should monitor students’ assignment submission frequency and their alignment with course pacing guides, and make space for conversations that can bolster students’ metacognitive and self-regulated learning skills. 

Authors

• Cuccolo, Kelly
• DeBruler, Kristen

Reference Type

Report

Keywords

• K-12 online learning
• Student pacing