Effects of the contingency for homework submission on homework submission and quiz performance in a college course.
Effects of the contingency for submission of homework assignments on the probability of assignment submission and on quiz grades were assessed in an undergraduate psychology course. Under an alternating treatments design, each student was assigned to a points condition for 5 of 10 quiz-related homework assignments corresponding to textbook chapters. Points were available for homework submission under this condition; points were not available under the no-points condition. The group-mean percentage of homework assignments submitted and quiz grades were higher for all chapters under the points condition than in the no-points condition. These findings, which were replicated in Experiment 2, demonstrate that homework submission was not maintained when the only consequences were instructor-provided feedback and expectation of improved quiz performance.
Ryan
Carolyn S
CS
Queens College, The Graduate Center of The City University of New York, CUNY, USA. carolyn.ryan@verizon.net
Hemmes
Nancy S
NS
D000328:Adult; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*; D014937:Work