Student Perceptions of Flexible Deadlines

Instructors’ course policies have an important impact on student success in our courses, as well as their perceptions of instructors. One such course policy, which is the focus of this descriptive study, is that of assessment deadlines, more specifically, the various permutations of flexible deadlines. These might include automatic extensions, short or long extensions with or without a penalty, open deadlines for submissions, or a bonus point as an incentive for meeting the deadline. In the present study, we asked students to evaluate these submission deadline policies and how they might affect their wellbeing, procrastination, and perceptions of their instructor. Although they report encountering them most frequently, students don’t perceive extensions with a reduction in grade (e.g., 10% per day) as helpful for their learning and would prefer automatic non-punitive extensions to help support their success and wellbeing. Additionally, students reported that they would have a more positive view of their instructor (nicer and cares about their success) if they had a flexible deadline policy and that it would increase their satisfaction with both the course and instructor. Surprisingly, the largest number of students indicated that their preferred flexible deadline policy would be to receive a bonus for submitting it on time. Implications for policy and student success are discussed. The authors recommend that faculty who use hard/rigid deadlines consider adopting flexible deadlines to better support student success.