Diferencias entre distintos sistemas de evaluación continua y su relación con la calificación final. Diferencias por género, nivel socio-económico y conocimientos iniciales

Abstract

We study how different continuous evaluation systems affect final course grades. We use administrative and survey data from first-year students at the University of Alicante enrolled in two subjects: Mathematics and Microeconomics. We estimate the effect of achievement in a midterm test in each subject on subsequent performance using a regression discontinuity design since only students obtaining a midterm score greater than or equal to 5 may interpret their score positively. The sign of the effect is unclear ex-ante: students may believe that additional study effort is (un)important to ensure a pass; in either case, this can lead them to put more effort on other subject or not. Our results suggest that the general effect on the same subject is positive but small and insignificant. Nonetheless, we find evidence of cross-effect of a lucky performance in one subject, Microeconomics, on subsequent achievement in a different subject, Mathematics, but only for females. We interpret the potential mechanism as cognitive loading, since scoring at least 5 in the Microeconomics midterm test reduces the amount of material examined in the final exam of that subject.