Is academic success just a matter of showing up? A study of the contribution of individual differences and attendance to performance

Abstract

The present study examined the contribution of individual differences in ordinary class attendance, self-efficacy, and decision-making styles to expected or actual performance in a course devoted to research report writing. Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the course, which was judged by past and current students as challenging, had to be delivered online. The online transfer raised concerns about the impact of passive attendance on learning in a course that had previously relied heavily on face-to-face exchanges. Thus, an objective examination of performance data was carried out. In regression analyses, attendance was the main contributor to performance on the midterm test and individual assignments. The contribution of other individual difference variables was selective and limited in scope. To wit, self-efficacy contributed to students' confidence in grade expectations, but not to their accuracy. Hyper-vigilance had a negative influence on grade expectations before the midterm examination, whereas procrastination had a negative influence on performance in initial assignments. It was concluded that the benefits of attendance may reflect students' motivation to do well, which begins with knowing what is going on in a class, an essential ingredient of academic success.