Motivational beliefs moderate the relation between academic delay and academic achievement in online learning environments

Academic delay can be understood as individuals' behavioral postponement of their work in academic settings. The purpose of this study was to examine the relations between academic delay, motivational beliefs, and academic achievement in an online science course. The sample included one hundred and sixty-eight undergraduate students. Leveraging learning analytics and using multilevel modeling, this study found that academic delay was composed of habitual and momentary components. Controlling for motivational beliefs, habitual delay was significantly more negative than momentary delay in relation to academic achievement. The relation between academic delay and academic achievement was moderated by motivational beliefs. The negative effect of momentary delay on academic achievement was dependent on academic self-efficacy, while the negative effect of habitual delay on academic achievement was dependent on emotional cost. These findings further confirm that academic delay in online learning environments is not necessarily harmful for college students. Simply focusing on academic delay without considering who is engaging in such behavior could be misleading for future intervention.