Enhancing Team Learning Participation: Creating Incentives through Bonus Adjustment Techniques

Abstract

In an attempt to promote and gain wider acceptance of team learning activities in the classroom, researchers have recommended detailed incentive plans, ranging from controlling student behavior to instilling the fundamental values of cohort responsibility to emphasizing the benefits of lifelong learning. While such strategies may be useful, implementation can be cumbersome and uneconomical, and thus unpalatable to faculty. This paper offers a simple but effective participation incentive strategy. Students are more likely to participate in team activities if bonus scores are awarded. This model is an application of the labor supply theory and an extension of premium wages paid for overtime work. Incentives to work are enhanced as premium wages increase the opportunity costs of leisure. Data collected in ten introductory economics classes support the conclusion that awarding variable bonus scores will have a substantive effect on increasing participation.