The Impact of Time of Day on Engagement and Performance for a University Low-Stakes Assessment

Jonathan M. Henriques, Brian C. Leventhal, Jack Gilmore, & Yu Bao   |    Volume 21 Issue 1  |   

Student engagement on low-stakes assessments raises concerns about the validity of conclusions derived from those tests. With the growing prevalence of online administration at universities, students often have the flexibility to choose their testing time. This study explores how the self-selected testing time of day influences university students’ test-taking engagement and performance in low-stakes assessments. A total of 1,397 university students were categorized into four time-of-day categories: morning, afternoon, evening, and nighttime. The number of rapid guesses was compared to assess engagement. Performance scores were also analyzed for comparison. The findings revealed that students who chose to test in the morning and afternoon exhibited greater engagement and better performance than those who tested in the evening and nighttime. These results underscore the importance of considering testing time when interpreting assessment outcomes, with implications for the scheduling of online assessments to enhance student engagement and performance.

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