Abstract
Background
Flexible deadline policies are increasingly common in higher education, yet little research has explored how consistent late submissions affect outcomes when grace periods are unlimited.
Objective
This study investigated whether consistent late submission predicts poorer performance in an online Introduction to Psychology course with no penalties for late assignments.
Method
Students (n = 273) completed 20 assignments under an extension without penalty course policy that teaching assistants graded for completion, not accuracy.
Results
Late submitters did not perform significantly worse than Early/On-Time peers on any exam, and over 75% earned passing grades. In contrast, Quit/Rarely Submitters had significantly lower Final Exam scores and final course averages, with large between-group effects.
Conclusion
Among students who consistently submitted, lateness alone showed no relation to. Quitting or rarely submitting was a stronger predictor of poor outcomes than lateness.
Teaching Implications
For students requiring extensions beyond 48 h, unlimited, non-penalizing grace periods may relate to improved course success. Instructors should consider policies that prioritize continued submissions over strict adherence to deadlines.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
