The effect of grade framing on task engagement, task completion, and anticipated regret

Abstract

Student tasks are assigned frequently in higher education to facilitate learning. For the students, the task grade is one of the motivating components for successfully performing a task. In this study, we presented students with a hypothetical task under different but equivalent grade computations (framings). Based upon principles derived from behavioral economics, the grade computations were framed as a loss or gain and explicitly or implicitly. Responding to each of these framings, 365 undergraduates reported their level of task engagement, task completion, and their anticipated regret for not completing the task (student outcomes). Findings revealed that when the task grade was framed as producing a potential loss in points, respondents reported higher student outcome levels than when framed as producing a potential gain in the grade. Furthermore, framing the grade’s consequence explicitly (without requiring the students to calculate it) had a stronger positive effect on student outcomes than when framing it implicitly.