Work

Incentives for retrieval practice and exam performance of college students

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: The authors provide students in online and face-to-face principles of macroeconomics courses with practice questions resembling those on an actual exam and require a student sample to submit answers. Whether the mandatory submission of practice question answers improves students’ performance on actual exams is examined. Evidence is found that required submission of answers in preparation for the first exam is associated with a higher exam score. The score students earn on practice questions about a week before each exam (first, second, and final) also positively relates to the respective actual test grade. Better performance on each exam predicts a higher grade on the following exam(s), especially for online courses. The results indicate the importance of providing student incentives to prepare for exams through retrieval practice.

Source: The Journal of Economic Education

DOI: 10.1080/00220485.2026.2703531

Authors: Fady Mansour, Stefani Milovanska-Farrington, Nour Kattih, Mohammed Saeed

Institutions: Columbus State University, Florida Polytechnic University, Middle Tennessee State University, King Abdulaziz University

Language: English

Topic: Memory Processes and Influences

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W4411214030

FWCI:

Cites: 11

Cited by:

Related to: 10