AEA Papers and Proceedings
ISSN 2574-0768 (Print) | ISSN 2574-0776 (Online)
Competition, Motivation, and Student Engagement
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 113,
May 2023
(pp. 508–13)
Abstract
We consider the gamification aspect of a technology that delivers small daily tasks to students to analyze how competition motivates engagement. We randomly assigned 400 students into teams of up to 10, who compete by committing to the daily task and then acknowledging their completion later in the day. Using data collected from the leaderboard, we test whether student engagement with respect to competition varies systematically by gender and by the level of anonymity. Not surprisingly, being ranked in the top three is highly motivating. However, among lower-ranked students, male students tend to disengage when usernames are not anonymous.Citation
Felkey, Amanda J., Eva Dziadula, and Eric Chiang. 2023. "Competition, Motivation, and Student Engagement." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 113: 508–13. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20231047Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- A22 Economic Education and Teaching of Economics: Undergraduate
- I23 Higher Education; Research Institutions
- I26 Returns to Education
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination