The Impact of the Order of Test Questions in Introductory Economics
18 Pages Posted: 2 Jan 2009 Last revised: 21 Jul 2014
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: Suggested Citation
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