An investigation of the partial-assignment completion effect on students' assignment choice behavior

On Effort and Achievement of Business Undergraduate and Graduate Students under a Disastrous Event

“…Students tend to prefer assignments or partially completed assignments that require less work. This study extends the work of Hawthorn-Embree et al (2010), Hawthorn-Embree et al (2011), andParkhurst et al (2011), which involved students from elementary to middle school, by observing a more mature sample of undergraduate and graduate students. The results indicated that under a unique stressful circumstance 6.06% of business undergraduate students and 9.28% of business graduate students, which are statistically different (see Appendix B), chose to complete the course through a final examination over a reduced-to-zero effort option.…”

“…Observing elementary and middle school students, these studies have evaluated the correlation between students' preference and assignment choice. The studies have shown, all else being equal, that students tend to choose tasks or assignments that require less effort (e.g., Billington et al, 2004;Friman, 1995;Hawthorn-Embree et al, 2010;Hawthorn-Embree et al, 2011;Parkhurst et al, 2011). Parkhurst et al (2011) indicated that leisure was the most significant factor in the Multidimensional Work Ethic Profile (MWEP) when determining students' preference on assignment choice.…”

Assignment choice, effort, and assignment completion: Does work ethic predict those who choose higher-effort assignments?

“…Researchers investigating the Partial-Assignment Completion (PAC) effect have extended this research to academic assignments and tested the strength of the effect by manipulating assignment effort (Hawthorn-Embree et al (2010, 2011). The current study found that significantly more (78%) college students chose the new, lower-effort assignment which supports the conclusion that relative effort may have more impact on student choice than the PAC effect.…”

“…Recently ITP research has been extended to academic assignments while controlling for effort and interest. Hawthorn-Embree et al (2011) had 85 seventh-grade students begin a math computation assignment but interrupted them before they could finish (after 5 min). About 20 min later, researchers gave each student their partially completed assignment and a second assignment with an equal number of matched problems, thus controlling for effort and interest.…”

“…PAC researchers (Hawthorn-Embree et al, 2010, 2011 extended theoretical ITP research (e.g., Butterfield, 1964;Katz, 1938) to academic task interruption while controlling for and/or manipulating other factors that influence choice, including effort. The current study extended this research in several ways.…”