Improving learning performance with extra-credit optional homework
INTRODUCTION. Assignments are often used at college level to reinforce learning, offer practice opportunities, and encourage self-assessment. While research indicates their positive impact on student performance, their effectiveness remains controversial and some studies suggest that extrinsic ince...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Catalan |
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Universitat de Barcelona
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Revista d'Innovació i Recerca en Educació |
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| Online Access: | https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/REIRE/article/view/46352 |
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| author | Juan Equiza-Goñi Isabel Rodríguez-Tejedo |
| author_facet | Juan Equiza-Goñi Isabel Rodríguez-Tejedo |
| author_sort | Juan Equiza-Goñi |
| collection | DOAJ |
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INTRODUCTION. Assignments are often used at college level to reinforce learning, offer practice opportunities, and encourage self-assessment. While research indicates their positive impact on student performance, their effectiveness remains controversial and some studies suggest that extrinsic incentives like extra credit may undermine intrinsic motivation. Our study contributes to this debate by examining the effects of optional extra-credit assignments on student performance on two Economics courses.
METHOD. We designed extra-credit assignments with features shown to increase intrinsic motivation. The timing of these assignments allowed us to alleviate the potential challenge of endogeneity. We used hierarchical regression analysis to investigate the impact of the extra-credit assignment on students’ final evaluations.
RESULTS. We found significant effects of extra-credit homework on students’ learning outcomes, measured by their performance in the final course exam.
DISCUSSION. By drawing upon insights from the literature on intrinsic motivation, the activities were designed to foster peer learning and allow students to exercise some creativity and pursue their personal interests. Our analysis provides evidence that students who undertook the extra-credit work improved their performance in the final evaluation. This result is statistically significant, even after accounting for their prior knowledge and course engagement.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2bd5af41de254befac1bfa095b79b44b |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2013-2255 |
| language | Catalan |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Universitat de Barcelona |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revista d'Innovació i Recerca en Educació |
| spelling | doaj-art-2bd5af41de254befac1bfa095b79b44b2025-08-20T02:37:02ZcatUniversitat de BarcelonaRevista d'Innovació i Recerca en Educació2013-22552025-07-0118210.1344/reire.46352Improving learning performance with extra-credit optional homeworkJuan Equiza-Goñi0Isabel Rodríguez-Tejedo1Universidad de NavarraUniversidad de Navarra INTRODUCTION. Assignments are often used at college level to reinforce learning, offer practice opportunities, and encourage self-assessment. While research indicates their positive impact on student performance, their effectiveness remains controversial and some studies suggest that extrinsic incentives like extra credit may undermine intrinsic motivation. Our study contributes to this debate by examining the effects of optional extra-credit assignments on student performance on two Economics courses. METHOD. We designed extra-credit assignments with features shown to increase intrinsic motivation. The timing of these assignments allowed us to alleviate the potential challenge of endogeneity. We used hierarchical regression analysis to investigate the impact of the extra-credit assignment on students’ final evaluations. RESULTS. We found significant effects of extra-credit homework on students’ learning outcomes, measured by their performance in the final course exam. DISCUSSION. By drawing upon insights from the literature on intrinsic motivation, the activities were designed to foster peer learning and allow students to exercise some creativity and pursue their personal interests. Our analysis provides evidence that students who undertook the extra-credit work improved their performance in the final evaluation. This result is statistically significant, even after accounting for their prior knowledge and course engagement. https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/REIRE/article/view/46352extra creditlearningcollege studentsoptional homeworkbehavior incentiveevaluation |
| spellingShingle | Juan Equiza-Goñi Isabel Rodríguez-Tejedo Improving learning performance with extra-credit optional homework Revista d'Innovació i Recerca en Educació extra credit learning college students optional homework behavior incentive evaluation |
| title | Improving learning performance with extra-credit optional homework |
| title_full | Improving learning performance with extra-credit optional homework |
| title_fullStr | Improving learning performance with extra-credit optional homework |
| title_full_unstemmed | Improving learning performance with extra-credit optional homework |
| title_short | Improving learning performance with extra-credit optional homework |
| title_sort | improving learning performance with extra credit optional homework |
| topic | extra credit learning college students optional homework behavior incentive evaluation |
| url | https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/REIRE/article/view/46352 |
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