A lottery improves performance on a low-stakes test for males but not females

James S. Cole; David A. Bergin; Jessica Summers

doi:10.1080/0969594X.2016.1224812

A lottery improves performance on a low-stakes test for males but not females

James S. Cole, David A. Bergin, Jessica Summers

Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to address the effectiveness of autonomy support and a lottery-based reward in enhancing test performance and test-taking motivation on a low-stakes test. Two hundred and forty-six university students were randomly assigned to three groups–lottery, autonomy support and control–and took a mathematics test. Students in the autonomy support and lottery group reported putting forth more test-taking effort than students in the control group. Males who were offered a chance at winning the financial reward scored almost 10 points higher on the exam compared to females. Results showed no significant difference in test scores for female students among groups, suggesting that neither intervention had an impact on females.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	488-503
Number of pages	16
Journal	Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice
Volume	25
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2016.1224812
State	Published - Sep 3 2018

Keywords

Test-taking
motivation
self-determination theory

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Education

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10.1080/0969594X.2016.1224812

Cite this

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abstract = "The purpose of this study was to address the effectiveness of autonomy support and a lottery-based reward in enhancing test performance and test-taking motivation on a low-stakes test. Two hundred and forty-six university students were randomly assigned to three groups–lottery, autonomy support and control–and took a mathematics test. Students in the autonomy support and lottery group reported putting forth more test-taking effort than students in the control group. Males who were offered a chance at winning the financial reward scored almost 10 points higher on the exam compared to females. Results showed no significant difference in test scores for female students among groups, suggesting that neither intervention had an impact on females.",

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A lottery improves performance on a low-stakes test for males but not females

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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