showing 9 related works from this author
Rank response functions in an online learning environment
2021
Abstract We estimate rank response functions after receiving rank-order feedback in an online learning platform. We find that the shapes of the rank response functions depend on the outcome measure under consideration. For our effort measure, i.e., whether learners continue to interact with the platform, we can reject a linear rank response function and find significant evidence of a U-shaped relationship. For our performance measure, i.e., correctly solved exercises, we find no clear pattern overall but suggestive evidence for a linearly decreasing rank response function for individuals in the lower half of the ability distribution, i.e., the lower the rank the lower the performance.
Do Children Cooperate Conditionally? Adapting the Strategy Method for First-Graders
2018
We develop a public goods game (PGG) to measure cooperation and conditional cooperation in young children. Our design addresses several obstacles in adapting simultaneous and sequential PGGs to children who are not yet able to read or write, do not possess advanced abilities to calculate payoffs, and only have a very limited attention span at their disposal. It features the combination of haptic offline explanation, fully standardized audiovisual instructions, computerized choices based on touch-screens, and a suitable incentive scheme. Applying our experimental protocol to a sample of German first-graders, we find that already 6-year-olds cooperate conditionally and that the relative frequ…
What determines the willingness to sanction violations of newly introduced social norms: Personality traits or economic preferences? evidence from th…
2021
Abstract Social norms govern human behavior and usually change slowly over time. While individuals’ willingness to sanction others is decisive for the enforcement of social norms and thus social stability, little is known about individual sanctioning behavior related to newly introduced social norms. During the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have used various tools to rapidly and actively introduce the new norm of wearing a face mask; this offers a unique setting to study the determinants of individuals’ willingness to sanction a cooperation norm. In a nationwide online survey in Germany, we find that higher levels of conscientiousness and neuroticism, but none of the economic preferences (…
Sentence judgments and the grammar of poetry: Linking linguistic structure and poetic effect
2018
The present article aims to show that the elicitation of intuitive literary-aesthetic sentence judgments taps into readers’ poetry-specific linguistic register, and how such judgment methods can be used to support and constrain future theory formation in experimental poetics. In two experiments, we examined effects of deviant and parallelistic linguistic features on readers’ grammatical and literary-aesthetic evaluation of single sentences.In Experiment 1, participants rated carefully selected and modified lines of German poetry for either acceptability or poeticity (n = 40 each) on a 7-point scale; original lines featured grammatical deviations that were absent in modified versions. All in…
Teaching in times of COVID-19: determinants of teachers' educational technology use
2021
We conduct a large and nationwide survey among German teachers to investigate the determinants of teachers' adaption to an increased use of educational technology during the COVID-19 school closure...
Monetary and non-monetary incentives for educational attainment: design and effectiveness
2020
Abstract The use of extrinsic incentives to steer individual behavior is at the heart of economics and the effects of monetary incentives for students, parents, and teachers on educational attainment have been studied widely. However, the use of monetary incentives may be difficult to scale up because they are potentially expensive and educators and parents may be skeptical about cash for grades. Non-monetary incentives have the potential to mitigate these problems while being cost-effective in increasing educational attainment. This chapter reviews the literature on providing extrinsic, monetary and non-monetary incentives to increase educational attainment. Thereby, we focus on the design…
Non-monetary rewards in education
2021
This paper presents evidence how pupils choose different types of non-monetary rewards for educational attainment. These rewards are external to the learning process, but unlike cash-for-grades rew...
On the design of non-monetary incentives in schools
2019
We analyze the impact of non-monetary incentives on performance in a mathematics test in secondary schools. While we apply predetermined incentives in two treatments, in a third treatment, pupils c...
Do Children Cooperate Conditionally?:Adapting the Strategy Method for First-Graders
2020
We develop a public goods game (PGG) to measure cooperation and conditional cooperation in young children. Our design addresses several obstacles in adapting simultaneous and sequential PGGs to children who are not yet able to read or write, do not possess advanced abilities to calculate payoffs, and only have a very limited attention span. It features the combination of haptic offline explanation, fully standardized audiovisual instructions, computerized choices based on touchscreens, and a suitable incentive scheme. Applying our experimental protocol to 129 German first-graders, we find that already 6-year-olds cooperate conditionally and that the relative frequency of different cooperati…