Reworking exam problems to incentivize improved performance in upper-division electrodynamics
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
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![]() <a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=16250">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.</a>
![]() 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).
![]() 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>.
![]() 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
![]() 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).
![]() 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>.
![]() @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}
}
![]() %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 ![]() %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 Disclaimer: ComPADRE offers citation styles as a guide only. We cannot offer interpretations about citations as this is an automated procedure. Please refer to the style manuals in the Citation Source Information area for clarifications.
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