Changes in student effort and grade expectation in the course of a term

Abstract

Students were surveyed and asked to self-evaluate their performance and time-on-task in six engineering courses (eight sections). Surveys were conducted four times over the course of a 10-week quarter. Students with the highest grade point averages (GPAs) (2.88 mean; 4.00 mode) indicated 'no change' while students with lower GPAs (2.67 mean; 1.83 mode) indicated a 'negative change' in grade expectations by the end of the quarter, indicating that better performing students are better self-evaluators. Students reduced timeon-task 2-4 hours/week, especially early in the quarter. Students who changed their time-on-task during each survey had a GPA mode of 4.00, indicating that 'master' students readily adapt to course demands. This study shows that most students over-predict their grades and their level of commitment to a course and lose confidence in their abilities as the term progresses. It is suggested that instructors obtain student grade predictions and use them to provide timely and appropriate feedback.

Student Optimism – Grading of an Experiential Learning Project

“…Since an experiential project at a university level is usually of one to two weeks, therefore the grading is also longitudinal and continuous. Students thus at the beginning of a course have high hopes and believe to score good grades in it (Khachikiana, Guillaumea, & Phama, 2011;Larseingue, Sawyer, & Finn, 2012). This expectation of scoring a good grade increases in an experiential setting as the students think that since they neither cram nor practice, therefore they will attain high grades.…”

“…This expectation of scoring a good grade increases in an experiential setting as the students think that since they neither cram nor practice, therefore they will attain high grades. Khachikiana, Guillaumea and Phama (2011) conducted their research on engineering students where they were to self evaluate their work and grade themselves. It was found out that students started off with a realistic approach towards grade attainment and the students with high GPA continued to adjust their working hours and study approaches according to their expected grade.…”

Independent learning as class preparation to foster student-centred learning in first-year engineering students

“…The goal should be the development of the ability to learn as a key competence (Hoskins and Deakin Crick 2010), complemented by reinforcing the culture of effort, which should also be an integral component of another key competence, civic competence. The role of student effort has been analysed by Khachikian, Guillaume, and Pham (2011) in connection with students' time-on-task reduction and grade expectations.…”

Grade Expectations: Rationality and Overconfidence

“…Expectations move closer to the realized grade as students receive new information on their actual performance closer to the exam. Many other papers reject the hypothesis of rational expectations and confirm student grade overconfidence; see Kruger and Dunning ( 1999 ), Svanum and Bigatti ( 2006 ), Andrews et al ( 2007 ), Burns ( 2007 ), Jensen and Moore ( 2008 ), Khachikian et al ( 2011 ), Hossain and Tsigaris ( 2013 ), Feld et al ( 2017 ), Foster et al ( 2017 ), Serra and DeMarree ( 2016 ), and Sturges et al ( 2016 ).…”