Study behaviour and performance in objective and essay formats

The effects of student motivation and study behaviour on performance in different types of test were investigated. Test scores in two undergraduate educational psychology courses were factor analysed and factor scores for performance in general achievement, objective format and essay format were obtained. Academic motivation and preferred study behaviours were assessed by means of question-naire. High achievement was related, independently of format, to two kinds of study strategy, reproductive and transformational. Reproductive strategies were successful in students motivated pragmatically; transformational in those with more ‘ academic ’ motivations. Performance specific to the objective format was related to student characteristics that stemmed from the cognitive style of convergence. Performance specific to essays was associated with several markerlstudent characteristics. Some implications for teaching and evaluating student performance were noted. University teachers are increasingly inclined to use both objective tests and essays to evaluate course content. Either method can be criticized, but i