Overview

Despite the proliferation of learning management systems, it is common for students to ask the instructor their grade during the semester. If the students don't know their grade when deciding the level of effort to impart on an assignment, they may be choosing non-optimally.

We solve this problem with "Grade Nudge" a Google App Script that runs within the user's (instructor's) Google Drive. This software requires a Gmail enabled Google account (a Google account is Gmail enabled if you can send e-mail from the account). Examples include all @gmail.com Google accounts or accounts provided by your educational institution where Google is your e-mail provider.

Grade Nudge sends a treatment message via e-mail to each student in your class. This treatment indicates not only the student's current grade, but the possible grade outcomes given various scores on an upcoming assignment. Smith et al. (2018) showed with a randomized trial that this message increased student homework performance by a half-letter grade more than reminder emails. The message reads as follows:

Hi [Name],

[Custom message from the instructor]

As of now, you have a(n) [Grade] in the class. This assignment is worth [Points] points. If you get more than [X] on this assignment, your class grade will increase to a(n) [Higher Grade]. If you get less than [Y] on this assignment, your grade will drop at least one grade. Not doing this assignment will result in a(n) [Lower Grade].

Here, [Name] is the student's name, [Grade] is the student's current grade, [Points] is the number of points the assignment is worth, [X] is the minimum number of points necessary to move one grade higher, [Higher Grade] is a grade higher than the student's current grade and [Y] is the maximum points the student could receive and still drop a grade. [Lower Grade] is the updated grade of the student assuming they choose not to do the assignment. 'This assignment' can be replaced with a custom assignment name under the advanced settings (middle column).