ACTIVE LEARNING EXERCISES ARE MORE MOTIVATING THAN QUIZZES FOR UNDERACHIEVING COLLEGE-STUDENTS

For two weeks of an introductory psychology course, covering two chapt ers of the text, students who were earning a grade of C or below were randomly divided into two groups. A quiz-only control group of 29 stud ents continued to take weekly quizzes throughout the semester, and 27 students who carried out active learning exercises instead of taking t he two quizzes. The latter reported that they worked longer than the c ontrols, thought the material was easier, and liked chapters in the te xt better. When tested a month later they performed as well as the con trols on a test of the chapter's material.