Although research has explored how in-class pedagogical practices and narrative feedback affect student engagement and motivation, questions remain on the impact of grading systems (i.e. multi-interval grades vs pass/fail and narrative evaluation) on academic motivation. Here, we compared the motivation of students who received multi-interval…

Earning Open Badges instead of regular grades and credits can be a motivating factor for high-performing students in terms of attending classes and completing assignments in extracurricular courses, but to what extent? And for what student profiles? To tackle these questions, we conducted a quantitative study with high-performing students. Each…

Student self-efficacy, their confidence to successfully perform a task, is positively related to course performance. Students with high self-efficacy for a task are more motivated toward that task. Yet few studies have measured students' self-efficacy and motivation levels after exams are returned in introductory biology classes or studied how…

This study introduces a novel Learner-Intention Continuum, spanning from curiosity and exploration to purposeful, goal-directed learning. This continuum fills a critical gap in understanding the diverse motivations of informal and semi-formal learners, specifically those who enroll in massive open online courses (MOOCs). Through latent class…

Social annotation is a teaching and learning technique in which students post comments on electronic course materials in a shared space. The purpose of this study is to examine students' perceptions of social annotation in the context of motivation and social justice. In addition, the connections between social annotation and course grades were…

The aim of the study is to examine assessment experiences and practices in mathematics in high school from the students' perspective. To gain insight into the students' experiences and practices, we used a qualitative approach. The data are based on qualitative focus group interviews with first year students in the general studies education…

Differences between academic disciplines have been a well-studied theme in higher education research. But even though students' subjective study values are a key factor for successful studying, research examining their disciplinary differences in the higher education context is lacking. To address this, this study draws on expectancy-value theory,…

Grades are frequently understood as an output of the educational process. However, they may also be an input: receiving a midterm grade may affect student performance in the remainder of the semester. Utilizing a regression discontinuity design to isolate the causal impact of midterm grades on subsequent student performance in the same course, we…

This paper reports on a study that replaced marks with digital badges in an undergraduate Initial Teacher Education course. The aim was to examine the impact of badging on students, and on the quality of university provision. Data collection consisted of surveys and focus groups. The study found that while digital badges had considerable potential…

We design a commitment contract for college students, "Study More Tomorrow," and conduct a randomized control trial testing a model of its demand. The contract commits students to attend peer tutoring if their midterm grade falls below a pre-specified threshold. The contract carries a financial penalty for noncompliance, in contrast to…

Writing a final thesis is an important step for many students. Many thesis programs in research-oriented fields are structured as projects in which there is a one-to-one working relationship with a supervisor. In addition, the thesis' final grade is often perceived as particularly important. This research uses a cross-sectional survey design (N =…

A variety of factors are associated with the learning difficulty in mathematics in the context of Pakistani schools. This study explored the different causes of learning difficulties in mathematics faced by primary school students in Karachi, Pakistan. Using a quantitative research design, the data was gathered from the parents and teachers of…

Herein, we explore the impact of using a flipped classroom approach on the achievement of learning outcomes in the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) inorganic nomenclature in fundamental chemistry courses at the university level. In addition, the study sought to evaluate student attitude, motivation, and engagement when…

Feedback best practices support timely, high-quality feedback with application opportunity. Multiple attempts on assessments support learning gains. A learning management system can be used to automatically provide feedback for application on a future assessment attempt. Current research has not thoroughly investigated the student impacts or…

Background: Limited research has compared relationships among student characteristics, study guide format, and academic performance. Objective: This study investigated relations among student characteristics (motivation, self-efficacy) and academic performance, examined the efficacy of study guide format on performance, and aggregated student…