Effect of Assignment Choice on Student Academic Performance in an Online Class

Choice of assignment has been shown to increase student engagement, improve academic outcomes, and promote student satisfaction in higher education courses (Hanewicz, Platt, & Arendt, Distance Education, 38(3), 273-287, 2017). However, in previous research, choice resulted in complex procedures and increased response effort for instructors (e.g., Arendt, Trego, & Allred, Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 8(1), 2-17, 2016). Using simplified procedures, the current study employed a repeated-measures with an alternating-treatments design to evaluate the effects of assignment choice (flash cards, study guide) on the academic outcomes of 42 graduate students in an online, asynchronous course. Slight differences between conditions were observed, but differences were not statistically significant.