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My question is about submission deadlines. When do students submit their work relative to a given deadline?

I see a lot of second guessing and anecdotal evidence and "in my class I have seen this and that". I wondered if are any verifiable and controlled studies which are statistically significant.

Is it really true that most students will submit close to the deadline. Can this be quantified in a meaningful way? And as a follow on - is this related to particular disciplines or is it all students? Is it mainly 1st years or also post grads? And if it is a problem, can it also be seen in other walks of life?

I would really like to see some evidence. I am struggling to find any studies. Perhaps if you know of some you will be happy to share them.

Massimo Ortolano
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user1011182
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    Just curious what you will do with this information if you get it. Also, it's going to depend on a bunch of factors such as assignment type, whether it is group or individual, whether it requires computers or other equipment that must be reserved, etc. etc. – Boba Fit Nov 10 '22 at 13:54
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    Before computers, most everything was turned in the day it was due because that was the day of a class… – Jon Custer Nov 10 '22 at 14:34
  • The data will hopefully settle the question as to whether this actually occurs in the first place. Then, what we can do about it in terms of help with time management and also ensuring sufficient time for assignments which can possibly be managed holistically to account for multiple deadlines as well as set times. – user1011182 Nov 10 '22 at 16:20
  • Jon, yes and no. If the assignment administration was handled by a 3rd party administrator then we would see lots of paper submissions ahead of the deadline. But there is a wider point, the flaw in looking at the submission distribution is that you assume people submit once they have finished the assignment. Nothing is perfect. And at the moment we are left with anecdotal evidence suggest as what you said, which is somewhat helpful but far from conclusive. – user1011182 Nov 10 '22 at 16:24
  • What is "close", what would not be "close"? There will always be a moment closer to the deadline than when something has been submitted, and there will always be a moment further away from the deadline than when something is submitted. – Mark Nov 10 '22 at 18:29
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    This sounds like a research topic. Have you consulted an academic librarian? Just searching student assignment submission deadline in an academic library search and limiting to articles, I see multiple articles about academic procrastination, submission patterns, etc. One is even titled "Patterns in assignment submission times...." – shoover Nov 10 '22 at 20:55
  • One professor's observation is here: https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/50035/16183 – Bob Brown Nov 10 '22 at 21:24
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    You’re assumption on time management is that students submit assignments as soon as they are completed, which is certainly NOT true. I for one only accepts handwritten assignments submitted in class on the due date, else the logistics becomes rapidly overwhelming. – ZeroTheHero Nov 12 '22 at 14:10

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