The Impact of the Order of Test Questions in Introductory Economics

18 Pages Posted: 2 Jan 2009 Last revised: 21 Jul 2014

See all articles by William M. Doerner

William M. Doerner

Federal Housing Finance Agency

Joseph P. Calhoun

Florida State University - Stavros Center for Economic Education

Date Written: April 2, 2009

Abstract

This study supposes that randomizing the order of questions might harm performance on classroom economics tests. A variety of teaching methods hold constant differences in learning styles. Attendance is voluntary, but nearly 90% of the sample (n=1,048) goes to class. During the semester, students take four tests with randomly-ordered questions. For the final exam, students are split into three treatment groups: sequentially-ordered, reverse sequentially-ordered, and randomized exam questions. We find that the type of treatment does matter. More specifically, females in macroeconomics fare significantly better when taking a sequentially-ordered final exam. These discoveries raise interesting questions about gender differences and teaching economics effectively in today's classroom.

Keywords: undergraduate economics, question order, tests

JEL Classification: A22, I21

Suggested Citation

Doerner, William M. and Calhoun, Joseph P., The Impact of the Order of Test Questions in Introductory Economics (April 2, 2009). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1321906 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1321906

William M. Doerner (Contact Author)

Federal Housing Finance Agency ( email )

400 7th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20219
United States
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HOME PAGE: http://www.fhfa.gov

Joseph P. Calhoun

Florida State University - Stavros Center for Economic Education ( email )

250 S. Woodward Avenue
Tallahasse, FL 32306
United States
850-644-7723 (Phone)
850-644-9866 (Fax)

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