Exploring the Apparent Motivational Impact of Resurrection Points from Final Exam Performance

This chapter examines the motivational impact of resurrection points; a systematic method for encouraging students to earn back missed points on semester exams through performance on the final exam. This method for utilizing hour exams as a type of formative assessment was explored for three courses across three years. Four of the nine individual courses sampled offered resurrection points. A student's grade trajectory based on semester exam performance was used to predict how well a student needed to perform on the final exam to receive a particular course grade. The need to over or under perform based on semester performance was then compared to whether the student actually earned that letter grade. Odds ratios suggest that students in resurrection point courses were more likely to earn a particular course letter grade if they needed to perform better on the final than they had on semester exams. This observation is consistent with an explanation of student behavior during final exams that effort in various courses is rationed based on the perceived value of the exam within the course it is administered.