Engaging Students in American Politics: Effort and Accomplishment

How much should student effort matter in their course grades? How much does student effort actually matter? What is the link between student effort and student performance, especially when the effort is not specifically focused on a specific performance metric? This paper examines these questions no...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of political science education Vol. 19; no. 4; pp. 565 - 579
Main Authors Rom, Mark Carl, Abeledo, Jorge, Ellsworth, Randall, Martin, Noah, Zuluaga, Lina
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 02.10.2023
Taylor & Francis Ltd
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Summary:How much should student effort matter in their course grades? How much does student effort actually matter? What is the link between student effort and student performance, especially when the effort is not specifically focused on a specific performance metric? This paper examines these questions normatively as well as by analyzing student data generated from an introductory course in US politics. We argue as follows. First, student effort should comprise a substantial share of student grades: otherwise, the grade is likely to reward student resources ("human capital"), which are in large part morally arbitrary. Second, in a course in which effort was appropriately incentivized, weighted, and measured, effort was the principal determinant of final grades through its direct and indirect effects. Finally, although there was intriguing evidence that certain kinds of effort mattered more than other kinds in affecting student performance, we were not able to draw firm conclusions on this point.
ISSN:1551-2169
1551-2177
DOI:10.1080/15512169.2023.2176313