What can completion time of quizzes tell us about students’ motivations and learning strategies?

Learning management systems (LMS) offer quiz tools that help students prepare for examinations. The purpose of this study is to investigate quiz tracking variables typically reported by LMS in relation to student achievement, motivation and learning strategies. The data from 143 undergraduate students comprised quiz tracking variables (number of attempts, completion time, and score), exam scores and responses to the Need for Cognition Scale (NfC), and selected components from the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire and the Achievement Goal Questionnaire. We hypothesized students retrieving information from memory while taking a quiz would complete the quiz in less time than students who searched for answers in the textbook, and consequently, quiz completion time would correlate with exam performance and key motivational and self-regulatory factors. We found quiz completion time correlated positively with performance-avoidance goal orientation. It correlated negatively with exam performance, NfC, self-efficacy, and effort regulation. The results indicated completion time of low stakes quizzes is associated with achievement-related motivations and reliably predicts achievement on summative exams. We attribute these links to the use of retrieval practice by students who successfully regulate their effort and learning strategies.