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The effect of giving explicit incentives to correct mistakes on subsequent problem solving in quantum mechanics
written by Benjamin R. Brown, Chandralekha Singh, and Andrew J. Mason
One attribute of experts is that they are likely to learn from their own mistakes. Experts are unlikely to make the same mistakes when asked to solve a problem a second time, especially if they have had access to a correct solution. Here, we discuss a study spanning several years in which advanced undergraduate physics students in a quantum mechanics course were given identical problems in both the midterm exam and final exam. Approximately half of the students were given incentives to correct their mistakes in the midterm exam and they could get back up to 50% of the points lost on each midterm exam problem. The solutions to the midterm exam problems were provided to all students in both groups but those who corrected their mistakes were provided the solution after they submitted their corrections to the instructor. The performance on the final exam on the same problems suggests that students who were given incentives to correct their mistakes significantly outperformed those who were not given an incentive. The incentive to correct the mistakes had the greatest impact on the final exam performance of students who performed poorly on the midterm exam.
Physics Education Research Conference 2015
Part of the PER Conference series
College Park, MD: July 29-30, 2015
Pages 67-70
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education - Applied Research
- Instructional Material Design
Education - Basic Research
- Achievement
- Problem Solving
Quantum Physics
- General
- Upper Undergraduate
- Reference Material
= Research study
PER-Central Type Intended Users Ratings
- PER Literature
- Researchers
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Format:
application/pdf
Mirror:
https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2015…
Access Rights:
Free access
License:
This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the published article's author(s), title, proceedings citation, and DOI.
Rights Holder:
American Association of Physics Teachers
DOI:
10.1119/perc.2015.pr.012
NSF Number:
1202909
Keyword:
PERC 2015
Record Creator:
Metadata instance created December 16, 2015 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:
January 4, 2016 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update
when Cataloged:
December 18, 2015
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AIP Format
B. Brown, C. Singh, and A. Mason, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2015, College Park, MD, 2015, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13839&DocID=4257).
AJP/PRST-PER
B. Brown, C. Singh, and A. Mason, The effect of giving explicit incentives to correct mistakes on subsequent problem solving in quantum mechanics, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2015, College Park, MD, 2015, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13839&DocID=4257>.
APA Format
Brown, B., Singh, C., & Mason, A. (2015, July 29-30). The effect of giving explicit incentives to correct mistakes on subsequent problem solving in quantum mechanics. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2015, College Park, MD. Retrieved December 5, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13839&DocID=4257
Chicago Format
Brown, B, C. Singh, and A. Mason. "The effect of giving explicit incentives to correct mistakes on subsequent problem solving in quantum mechanics." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2015, College Park, MD, July 29-30, 2015. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13839&DocID=4257 (accessed 5 December 2024).
MLA Format
Brown, Benjamin, Chandralekha Singh, and Andrew Mason. "The effect of giving explicit incentives to correct mistakes on subsequent problem solving in quantum mechanics." Physics Education Research Conference 2015. College Park, MD: 2015. 67-70 of PER Conference. 5 Dec. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13839&DocID=4257>.
BibTeX Export Format
@inproceedings{ Author = "Benjamin Brown and Chandralekha Singh and Andrew Mason", Title = {The effect of giving explicit incentives to correct mistakes on subsequent problem solving in quantum mechanics}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2015}, Pages = {67-70}, Address = {College Park, MD}, Series = {PER Conference}, Month = {July 29-30}, Year = {2015} }
Refer Export Format

%A Benjamin Brown %A Chandralekha Singh %A Andrew Mason %T The effect of giving explicit incentives to correct mistakes on subsequent problem solving in quantum mechanics %S PER Conference %D July 29-30 2015 %P 67-70 %C College Park, MD %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13839&DocID=4257 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2015 %O July 29-30 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Brown, Benjamin %A Singh, Chandralekha %A Mason, Andrew %D July 29-30 2015 %T The effect of giving explicit incentives to correct mistakes on subsequent problem solving in quantum mechanics %B Physics Education Research Conference 2015 %C College Park, MD %P 67-70 %S PER Conference %8 July 29-30 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13839&DocID=4257


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