Coasting Through Class: Learning Opportunity Loss from Practice Avoidance During Individual Seatwork

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute analyzed log data from 1,425 students using the ASSISTments math platform, introducing two new session-level disengagement measures—delayed start and early stop—alongside existing idle time metrics. They found that students dedicate only 40% of available classwork time to actual math practice, coasting through the remaining 60%. Of the coasted time, 36% resulted from delayed starts, 2% from mid-practice idling, and a staggering 62% from stopping early. Even after excluding early stops due to assignment completion, coasted time remained at 32%, indicating that many students stop working prematurely even when they could continue learning.

The study, published on arXiv and presented at ACM Learning Analytics and Knowledge, revealed that coasting is a consistent behavioral pattern with moderate temporal stability (G=0.73 for delayed start, 0.71 for early stop). Critically, students who demonstrated 'extra effort'—continuing beyond the first assignment completion—performed significantly better on standardized tests. The findings highlight a substantial opportunity loss in K-12 math education, where students are not maximizing available practice time. The researchers recommend platform affordances that support sustained engagement, such as adaptive pacing or gamified incentives, to help students use their seatwork time more productively.