GIVING CREDIT ENTICES MORE STUDENTS TO CHECK THEIR WORK, BUT...

摘要

This paper focuses on the effects of giving students credit for checking their answers. Two semesters of a beginning circuit analysis course are compared. In both semesters, answers on weekly quizzes were graded "all-or-nothing" in hopes that this would encourage the students to check their work carefully. A previous study of the first semester showed that this was insufficient inducement, so in the second semester, students were required to check their work by allocating quiz points specifically for checking. This resulted in a dramatic increase in the percentage of students who checked their answers on quizzes, but other important goals were not achieved. Specifically, quiz scores were not substantially higher in the second semester, and there were mixed results regarding checking answers on exams. This study also highlights the importance of conducting effective (vs. ineffective) checks and corroborates previous evidence that time pressure is not the primary barrier to checking answers.