Choice of Challenge Problems
In both the Control and Experiment, the students are given questions to rate their confidence. We wanted to see if confident students would do better and attempt the challenge problems compared to those who were not as confident.
Control
After finishing the problems, the students are randomly given a challenge or a normal problem. This is prompted by telling the students they are almost done.
Experiment
After finishing the problems, the students are given a choice to choose if they want a harder or easier challenge problem.
For both cases, the "easier" or normal are just another problem from the problem set:
For both cases, the "harder" challenge problems are in the form of a word problem:
Teacher Invitation - This presentation was sent to teachers to recruit their participation.
Click here to try the problem set
Clicking on the link above will allow you to experience this study from the student's perspective. You will be randomly assigned to any of the above cases. Follow the link multiple times or refresh the preview page to experience each case.