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Who Fills the Seats? Offering Extra Credit and Instructor Perceptions of Who Will Attend

Author

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  • Lewer, Joshua L.
  • Corbett, Colin
  • Marcum, Tanya M.
  • Highfill, Jannett

Abstract

Past research on the effectiveness and fairness of offering extra credit opportunities to students has been mixed. This paper contributes to this ongoing literature in two ways. First, we develop a student effort model that investigates how student utility, study time, productivity, and knowledge change when faculty offer extra credit opportunities. Second, we employ a survey of 251 college instructors from across the United States to examine instructor perceptions of which students attend extra credit events and at what point in the semester students are more likely to attend.

Suggested Citation

  • Lewer, Joshua L. & Corbett, Colin & Marcum, Tanya M. & Highfill, Jannett, 2022. "Who Fills the Seats? Offering Extra Credit and Instructor Perceptions of Who Will Attend," Applied Economics Teaching Resources (AETR), Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 4(4), September.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaeatr:324804
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.324804
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Joshua J. Lewer & Colin Corbett & Tanya M. Marcum & Jannett Highfill, 2021. "Modeling Student Effort: Flat Tires and Dead Batteries," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 66(2), pages 301-314, October.
    2. Mark Wilson, 2002. "Evidence that extra credit assignments induce moral hazard," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 30(1), pages 97-97, March.
    3. Gerald S. Oettinger, 2002. "The Effect Of Nonlinear Incentives On Performance: Evidence From "Econ 101"," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(3), pages 509-517, August.
    4. Uri Gneezy & John A. List & Jeffrey A. Livingston & Xiangdong Qin & Sally Sadoff & Yang Xu, 2019. "Measuring Success in Education: The Role of Effort on the Test Itself," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 1(3), pages 291-308, December.
    5. Valentina Paredes, 2017. "Grading System and Student Effort," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 12(1), pages 107-128, Winter.
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