Event Title
Location
Inman E. Page Library, Lionel Newsom Café
Start Date
4-11-2019 12:15 PM
End Date
4-11-2019 12:30 PM
Description
Students were given exams 1. with no incentives, 2. where a pretest counted as half the test grade, and 3. where the pretest was extra credit. Scores were worst with no incentive (55%), while negative (68%) and positive (69%) motivators produced equal scores. Over 80% of students took pretests to avoid hurting their grade, but none of them (0%) took the pretests enough to maximize their extra credit. It is suggested that professors should increase student preparation for exams by offering point incentives, but that positive motivators are preferable since negative motivators did not further increase scores.
Included in
The Effects of Pretest Incentives on Exam Scores
Inman E. Page Library, Lionel Newsom Café
Students were given exams 1. with no incentives, 2. where a pretest counted as half the test grade, and 3. where the pretest was extra credit. Scores were worst with no incentive (55%), while negative (68%) and positive (69%) motivators produced equal scores. Over 80% of students took pretests to avoid hurting their grade, but none of them (0%) took the pretests enough to maximize their extra credit. It is suggested that professors should increase student preparation for exams by offering point incentives, but that positive motivators are preferable since negative motivators did not further increase scores.
