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A for effort: Incomplete information and college students’ academic performance

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  • Wright, Nicholas A.
  • Arora, Puneet

Abstract

Students form beliefs about their expected performance based on incomplete information about the past distribution of grades. This may lead students to sub-optimally choose their level of effort and ultimately harm their actual academic performance. Using a field experiment, this paper examines the impact of randomly exposing students to accurate instructor-level information about the past distribution of grades in an introductory economics course. We find that while the intervention had a small positive impact on students’ average test scores, it improved the likelihood of passing the course by 10 percentage points. In addition, the results indicate that moderate-achievers, females, and students from higher-income households are most likely to benefit from treatment. The intervention also favored the students who had high expectations about their performance in the course and those with stronger priors about the expected grade distribution.

Suggested Citation

  • Wright, Nicholas A. & Arora, Puneet, 2022. "A for effort: Incomplete information and college students’ academic performance," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:88:y:2022:i:c:s0272775722000152
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2022.102238
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Paul W. Grimes & Meghan J. Millea & Thomas W. Woodruff, 2004. "Grades—Who's to Blame? Student Evaluation of Teaching and Locus of Control," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(2), pages 129-147, April.
    2. Clifford Nowell & Richard M. Alston, 2007. "I Thought I Got an A! Overconfidence Across the Economics Curriculum," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(2), pages 131-142, April.
    3. Wright, Nicholas A., 2020. "Perform better, or else: Academic probation, public praise, and students decision-making," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    4. Tin-Chun Lin, 2013. "Student performance and subsequent effort increment investment: do students behave like producers?," International Journal of Education Economics and Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 4(3), pages 219-232.
    5. Todd Stinebrickner & Ralph Stinebrickner, 2012. "Learning about Academic Ability and the College Dropout Decision," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 30(4), pages 707-748.
    6. John R. Reynolds & Jennifer Pemberton, 2001. "Rising College Expectations among Youth in the United States: A Comparison of the 1979 and 1997 NLSY," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 36(4), pages 703-726.
    7. Thomas Fujiwara & Leonard Wantchekon, 2013. "Can Informed Public Deliberation Overcome Clientelism? Experimental Evidence from Benin," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(4), pages 241-255, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Nicholas A. Wright & Puneet Arora & Jesse Wright, 2024. "I Promise to Work Hard: The Impact of a Non-Binding Commitment Pledge on Academic Performance," Working Papers 2411, Florida International University, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Incomplete information; Overconfidence; Grade expectations; Academic performance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A2 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics
    • D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty
    • D9 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education

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