Session S60b (Wednesday, 2pm, Thomas 102)

P795: Is the length of time students take on exams a habit? Is there a correlation between the length of time students take on exams and their exam scores?

Shahrokh Ghaffari (Ohio University – Zanesville, USA)

During an examination period, one can find students who take noticeably less time than average to complete the exam, as well as students who require more time than average to finish the exam.  This study examined these two groups of students to answer the following:

1) Is the amount of time that a student spends taking an exam a habit?

2) Is there a strong correlation between examination scores and the length of time it took to complete the exam?

The results of the study answered both of the above questions.  In response to the first question, the students who took either more or less than average examination time to complete their exam, thirty-three to fifty-six percent were the same students each time.  As these particular students demonstrated a consistent pattern in how long it took them to finish from one exam period to the next, the results indicate that the time spent taking an exam is due to habit, where habit is defined as “A settled tendency or usual manner of behavior” (  In response to the second question, the study shows that a strong correlation does not exist between examination score and the length of time it took to complete the exam.


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