Effects of an Early Homework Completion Bonus

Effects of an Early Homework Completion BonusA 10% early homework bonus was instituted in a freshman engineering class for homework thatwas completed more than 24 hours before the due date. As a result of the bonus, the amount ofhomework completed more than 24 hours before the due date jumped from approximately 15%to 60%. In addition, the use of our online discussion board, which is monitored by a graduateteaching assistant from 8-10 p.m. the night the homework is due, went from being almostexclusively used while it was being monitored and the students expecting the GTA to answertheir questions, to being heavily used before the bonus deadline and students answering eachothers' questions. Student comments related to the early homework bonus indicate that mostbelieve the early bonus has had a positive effect on their learning. Some of the reasons given bystudents were the bonus is a motivator to get it done (time management), the bonus pointscompensating for the small try penalty for a wrong answer so they are not as afraid to try, theyfeel like they understand the material better if they are working on homework shortly afterlecture, and the motivation to look at the homework before lecture and recitation so they knowwhat to focus on. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the early homework completionbonus, the effectiveness of the bonus, and how it has affected learning.