Online Homework Management Systems: Should We Allow Multiple Attempts?

M. Rhodes () and Jeffrey Sarbaum

No 13-14, UNCG Economics Working Papers from University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics

Abstract: Conventional pencil and paper wisdom suggests that allowing multiple attempts on homework will lead to more time spent on homework, higher homework grades, and better exam performance. For a variety of reasons, homework is increasingly being auto-administered online. This paper discusses the results of a quasi-experiment designed to evaluate student behavior under single and multiple attempt homework settings using an online homework management system. The paper explores whether multiple attempts lead to more effort and improved performance, and evaluates alternative, less desirable, behaviors that are potentially incentivized. We find that multiple attempts leads to gaming behavior that results in grade inflation without improvement in learning outcomes. The findings are important in that they provide guidance and insight into best practices to maximize student outcomes when choosing online homework settings.

Keywords: Student effort and performance; Assessment settings; Multiple attempts (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A22 C93 D01 I21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 24 pages
Date: 2013-10-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-hrm and nep-ict
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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