Effects of Self-Pacing and Instructor-Pacing in a PSI Course

Students enrolled in an introductory research course in political science were randomly assigned to either (1) a self-paced group in which each student was allowed to take each quiz in the course at whatever pace he chose or (2) an instructor-paced group in which students were required to pass each quiz by a target date set by the instructor. The number of students who withdrew from the course was significantly higher from the self-paced group than from the instructor-paced group. There were no significant differences between groups in attitudes or in achievement. Failure to maintain a steady quiz-taking pace and poor performance on the quizzes were the factors most closely associated with withdrawal from the course.