Effects of Study Behavior on Objective-Style and Essay-Style Performance.

In this study, the effects of motivational and behavioral dimensions of study behavior on objective and essay modes of evaluating course content were investigated. Several performance measures in two undergraduate Educational Psychology courses were factor analyzed, and three orthogonal performance factors were obtained: general achievement, objective-style, and essay-style. Value-motivational and strategic aspects of study behavior were assessed by a questionnaire. Multivariate analyses of variance were carried out using the study behavior dimensions as the independent and the performance factor scores as the dependent variables. High achievement was found to be related, independently of mode of assessment, to two kinds of study strategy, reproductive and transformational, and the appropriateness of each depended on the student's value-motivational orientation to his course work. Converging-type strategies were related to objective performance, and several marker/student characteristics to essay performance. Some implications for teaching, evaluating, and study efficiency were noted. (Author)