The Use of Random Extra Credit Quizzes to Increase Student Attendance.

The effect of random extra credit quizzes on student attendance in an undergraduate course on the psychology of learning was examined. A B-A-B reversal design was used to measure quiz effects. The results indicated that student attendance increased by 10% when the quizzes were in place. In addition, student attendance was positively correlated with overall course score, and student response to the extra credit quiz system was favorable. The results are discussed in terms of the use of positive reinforcement-based approaches to increasing student attendance.

A number of studies have shown that student attendance positively correlates with student performance in high school and college courses (Buckalew, Daly, & Coffield, 1986; Kooker, 1976, Turner, 1927; Van Blerkom, 1992). However, a dearth of research exists on methods to increase student attendance. The few methods of increasing attendance that have been examined have focused on manipulating social or academic contingencies. For example, Noonan and Thibeault (1974) assigned "reinforcing agents" (i.e., peers) to students identified as chronic absentees in a high school in Kentucky. The reinforcing agents delivered social praise contingent on attendance in class and statements of concern / disapproval contingent on absences. The results showed an increase in attendance when the program was in place.

Quizzes have also been examined for use in increasing student attendance. Hovell, Williams, and Semb (1979) examined the effects of three different quiz contingencies that varied in terms of the number of quizzes and exams that students took during the semester. Each quiz contingency was implemented in a separate undergraduate psychology course. The authors found that student attendance hovered around 90% for class meetings with a quiz and around 55% for non-quiz meetings across the courses. They concluded that grade-related contingencies maintained high overall attendance.

Although these methods have been shown to be effective in increasing or maintaining student attendance, they involve a situation in which students must either avoid a potentially aversive event (e.g., social disapproval, missed quiz points) by attending class or are confronted with one of these potentially aversive events contingent upon absences. In other words, student attendance may be at least in part maintained by negative reinforcement and student absences may be reduced via punishment with these systems. An alternative approach is to use positive reinforcement to increase and / or maintain student attendance. Although one published study (Beaulieu, 1984) compared the effects of different rewards on student attendance, a baseline or a control group was not employed. Thus, the extent to which the various rewards improved attendance is unknown. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate a positive reinforcement-based approach to increasing student attendance by examining the effect of random extra-credit quizzes on student attendance in a college course.

Method

Participants and Setting

Participants included 32 students in a psychology of learning course at a private comprehensive university in the western United States. Ninety-four percent of the students were psychology majors. Approximately 13% of the students were sophomores, 53% were juniors, and 34% were seniors. The class met three times per week except during holiday periods. Attendance on exam days (which were scheduled for every other Friday) is not included in the data. The experiment was conducted during 12 weeks of the 16-week semester. It was not conducted during the first 3 weeks because a number of students were adding and dropping the course. The experiment was also not conducted during the last week of the semester due to final exams. The lecture format of the course remained constant throughout the semester.

Dependent Measure and Interobserver Agreement

The dependent variable in the study was the percentage of students in attendance at each class meeting. The dependent variable was measured by a teaching assistant who counted the number of students in the classroom at the beginning of each class meeting (2:00 p.m.). On 75% of occasions, another teaching assistant independently counted the number of students present at the same time that the primary data collector counted. Interobserver agreement was calculated by dividing the smaller count by the larger count and multiplying by 100. Interobserver agreement ranged from 91% to 100%, with a mean of 98%.

Independent Variable

The independent variable was an extra-credit quiz. The points from these quizzes were added to participant's scores in the course. Thus, missed quizzes did not affect participants' course grades.

Experimental Design

A reversal (B-A-B) design (Kazdin, 1982) was used to evaluate the effects of the random extra credit quizzes on student attendance. During the first (B) phase, which was 6 weeks in length, the extra credit quizzes were in place. A brief baseline phase (two weeks in length) followed in which the extra credit quizzes were removed. Finally, the extra credit quizzes were resumed during the second B phase, which lasted four weeks. All students were made aware of the initiation and removal of the extra credit quizzes. The reason for the removal of the quizzes was not disclosed, however. During the B phases, students were told that a quiz could be given on any day of the week and that multiple quizzes could be given in the same week (although more than one quiz was not administered in a single week).

Procedure

During the B phases, extra credit quizzes were given once per week. The specific day of the quiz was randomly chosen. On extra-credit quiz days, students were asked to take out a sheet of paper and write their name on the paper at the beginning of the class meeting. Next, the instructor asked the students one question based on the textbook readings that the students were to complete before the class meeting. The questions were structured so that students who read the material would have no problem answering the question. A one-word answer was sufficient. The purpose of the question was to encourage students to keep up with the course reading (see Solomon, (1979) for an evaluation of a system designed to maintain student reading of assigned material). Students then turned in the quizzes and the instructor and the course teaching assistants graded them. Students received one point for writing their name on the paper (i.e., for being present) and one point for a correct answer to the question asked. The total number of extra credit points available with this system was 20 (i.e., 2 points per week X 10 weeks). This number represented about 6% of the total possible points in the course. The quizzes were returned to the students at the next class meeting. During the baseline (A) phase, no extra-credit quizzes were given. At the end of the semester, the class completed a course evaluation form, which included questions about the extent to which the students liked the extra credit system and whether or not the quizzes helped students to keep up with the course reading between exams.

Results and Discussion

Figure 1 depicts the percentage of students in attendance at each class meeting during the course of the study. During the first (B) phase when the extra credit quizzes were in place, a mean of 63.4% (SD = 10.08) of students attended the class meetings. In addition, an increasing trend is apparent towards the end of this phase. During the baseline (A) phase, mean attendance dropped to 52.1% (SD = 13.80). Finally, during the re-introduction of the extra credit quizzes (i.e., the second B phase), attendance increased to a mean of 62.1% (SD = 7.54) and appeared to be on an increasing trend as the experiment ended.

[GRAPH OMITTED]

The results of the study demonstrate that the use of random, extra credit quizzes increased student attendance by about 10%. Thus, a positive reinforcement-based approach was successful in increasing student attendance. Whether or not the approach is as effective as those that rely at least in part on negative reinforcement remains to be seen. Future research should directly compare the two approaches.

Increased student attendance is unimportant unless it translates into increased learning as measured by improved course performance. Although the relationship between student attendance and course performance was not the primary target of this study, some data are available on this issue. Student performance on exams was slightly (but not significantly) higher during the extra credit quiz (B) phases (M = 79.4%) relative to the baseline (A) phase of the study (M = 77.4%, t (31) = .12, p [is greater than] .05). In addition, analyses revealed a (significant) correlation coefficient (r) of .73, (F (1,30) = 33.26, p [is less than] .01) between frequency of student attendance and total course points, indicating that student attendance was positively related to course performance.

Student responses to questions about the extra-credit quiz system were positive. Ninety-four percent of students in the course reported that they liked the extra-credit quiz system. In addition, 69% of students in the course reported that they attended class more often because of the chance to obtain the points associated with the extra- credit quizzes. Fifty-three percent of students in the course reported that the extra- credit quizzes helped them to keep up with the course reading between exams.

Although the current procedure was evaluated in a college course, it could be easily modified for use in a junior high or high school classroom. Student attendance is often a problem at this educational level as well. Since secondary classes typically meet on a daily basis, the course instructor or instructional aide could implement the extra credit quiz procedure twice a week as opposed to once a week so that students would have ample opportunity to obtain the extra credit points.

One limitation of the extra-credit quiz system evaluated in this study concerns the amount of time required to grade them. Although the quizzes yielded only one answer, the teaching assistants and course instructor spent about one-half hour each time a quiz was given grading and entering the quiz scores into the course database. Although this is manageable with a class of 32 students, the time required might be too costly with larger classes or when the quizzes are given more than once per week. Instructors who wish to focus only on attendance could eliminate the quiz question, thereby saving time by not having to score the quizzes. For example, an instructor or instructional aide (i.e., teaching assistant) could simply note which students are in attendance at the beginning of class and award extra credit points based on this assessment. Future research should address the extent to which the present findings apply to an extra-credit system that does not use quiz questions. Future research should also examine the efficacy of the procedure employed in the current study when the number of extra-credit points available to students for attendance is increased (i.e., when students can receive more than two extra credit points per quiz).

References

Beaulieu, R. P. (1984). The effects of traditional and alternate rewards on attendance. College Student Journal, 18, 126-130.

Buckalew, L. W., Daly, J. D., & Coffield, K. E. (1986). Relationship of initial class attendance and seating location to academic performance in psychology classes. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 24, 63-64.

Hovell, M. F., Williams, R. L., & Semb, G. (1979). Analysis of undergraduates' attendance at class meetings with and without grade-related contingencies: A contrast effect. Journal of Educational Research, 73, 50-53.

Kazdin, A. E. (1982). Single-case research designs: Methods for clinical and applied settings. New York: Oxford.

Kooker, E. W. (1976). Changes in grade distributions associated with changes in class attendance policies. Psychology: A Journal of Human Behavior, 13, 56-57.

Noonan, R. J., & Thibeault, R. (1974). Primary prevention in Appalachian Kentucky: Peer reinforcement of classroom attendance. Journal of Community Psychology, 2, 260-264.

Solomon, P. R. (1979). The two-point system: A method for encouraging students to read assigned material before class. Teaching of Psychology, 6, 77-80.

Turner, F. H. (1927). A study on the relation of class attendance to scholastic achievement. School and Society, 26, 22-24.

Van Blerkom, M. L. (1992). Class attendance in undergraduate courses. Journal of Psychology, 126, 487-494.

Author Notes. We thank James E. Can' and Kenneth L. Beauchamp for their helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.

David A. Wilder, William A. Flood, Wibecke Stromsnes, Department of Psychology, University of the Pacific.

Correspondence should be addressed to David A. Wilder, Department of Psychology, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA 95211 E-mail: [e-mail]