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  5. Emoticons as Performance Feedback for College Students: A Large-Classroom Field Experiment

AEA Papers and Proceedings

ISSN 2574-0768 (Print) | ISSN 2574-0776 (Online)

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Emoticons as Performance Feedback for College Students: A Large-Classroom Field Experiment

  • Darshak Patel
  • Justin Roush
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 113, May 2023
(pp. 503–07)
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Abstract

We use a field experiment in a large college classroom to study the use of written representations of emotion ("emoticons") as a form of feedback on exams. We find that treatment improved student attendance, quiz scores, homework scores, and test scores. We document heterogeneous impacts based on the type of emoticon received and gender. Improvements were driven by those who received disapproving emoticons but scored above the mean. Female students were responsible for the improved homework and test scores, while men drove improvements in attendance. Both genders improved similarly on quiz scores. We discuss two psychological theories supporting a treatment effect.

Citation

Patel, Darshak, and Justin Roush. 2023. "Emoticons as Performance Feedback for College Students: A Large-Classroom Field Experiment." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 113: 503–07. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20231046

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • A22 Economic Education and Teaching of Economics: Undergraduate
  • C93 Field Experiments
  • I23 Higher Education; Research Institutions
  • I26 Returns to Education