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Reworking exam problems to incentivize improved performance in upper-division electrodynamics
written by Andrew J. Mason and John S. Colton
A previous study showed that incentivizing students to correct mistakes on unit exam problems within an upper-division quantum mechanics course improved students' problem-solving efforts on those same problems in a final exam environment, relative to a comparison group of students who were not incentivized. We attempt to replicate the quantitative portion of this study within a first-semester upper-division electromagnetism course, specifically examining students' invoking correct concepts and applying those concepts correctly. A statistical comparison of students who accepted the offer to rework unit exam problems for partial credit, versus students who declined the offer, demonstrates a better improvement for students who chose to rework relative to students who declined. As the results suggested that unit exam performance might provide a covariate within the comparison of choice to rework between groups, the results were analyzed using ANCOVA; to understand the effect size, a pre-post normalized gain comparison was also made; statistical results were consistent across both measurements.  Results additionally appear to show that incentivization works more specifically for invoking correct concepts on a primarily conceptual problem, and more specifically for applying concepts correctly on a primarily algorithmic problem. Future plans include a more complete analytical framework using think-aloud protocol interviews for students from the sample, as well as more statistical detail to determine the interaction between unit exam score and choice to rework problems.
Physics Education Research Conference 2022
Part of the PER Conference series
Grand Rapids, MI: July 13-14, 2022
Pages 298-303
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education Foundations
- Assessment
= Methods
- Research Design & Methodology
= Evaluation
= Statistics
Education Practices
- Instructional Material Design
= Activity
- Pedagogy
= Instructional Issues
- Upper Undergraduate
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Mirror:
https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2022…
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Free access
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This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the published article's author(s), title, proceedings citation, and DOI.
Rights Holder:
American Association of Physics Teachers
DOI:
10.1119/perc.2022.pr.Mason
Keyword:
PERC 2022
Record Creator:
Metadata instance created September 7, 2022 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:
September 14, 2022 by Lyle Barbato
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when Cataloged:
September 15, 2022
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AIP Format
A. Mason and J. Colton, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2022, Grand Rapids, MI, 2022, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16250&DocID=5619).
AJP/PRST-PER
A. Mason and J. Colton, Reworking exam problems to incentivize improved performance in upper-division electrodynamics, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2022, Grand Rapids, MI, 2022, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16250&DocID=5619>.
APA Format
Mason, A., & Colton, J. (2022, July 13-14). Reworking exam problems to incentivize improved performance in upper-division electrodynamics. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2022, Grand Rapids, MI. Retrieved May 4, 2025, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16250&DocID=5619
Chicago Format
Mason, Andrew, and John S. Colton. "Reworking exam problems to incentivize improved performance in upper-division electrodynamics." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2022, Grand Rapids, MI, July 13-14, 2022. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16250&DocID=5619 (accessed 4 May 2025).
MLA Format
Mason, Andrew, and John S. Colton. "Reworking exam problems to incentivize improved performance in upper-division electrodynamics." Physics Education Research Conference 2022. Grand Rapids, MI: 2022. 298-303 of PER Conference. 4 May 2025 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16250&DocID=5619>.
BibTeX Export Format
@inproceedings{ Author = "Andrew Mason and John S. Colton", Title = {Reworking exam problems to incentivize improved performance in upper-division electrodynamics}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2022}, Pages = {298-303}, Address = {Grand Rapids, MI}, Series = {PER Conference}, Month = {July 13-14}, Year = {2022} }
Refer Export Format

%A Andrew Mason %A John S. Colton %T Reworking exam problems to incentivize improved performance in upper-division electrodynamics %S PER Conference %D July 13-14 2022 %P 298-303 %C Grand Rapids, MI %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16250&DocID=5619 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2022 %O July 13-14 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Mason, Andrew %A Colton, John S. %D July 13-14 2022 %T Reworking exam problems to incentivize improved performance in upper-division electrodynamics %B Physics Education Research Conference 2022 %C Grand Rapids, MI %P 298-303 %S PER Conference %8 July 13-14 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16250&DocID=5619


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