Student engagement and the Learning Incentive Program: Evidence and applications

This paper presents the Learning Incentive Program (LIP), which is an innovative teaching resource designed to enhance a range of learning-relevant outcomes through increasing student engagement while maintaining intrinsic motivation. Specifically, the LIP involves interactive weekly online formative quizzes, primarily designed to encourage engagement. As incentive for regularly engaging in course content, completion of weekly tasks allows access to course materials for that topic (e.g., lecture notes can be obtained prior to the lecture as an incentive for engaging with the LIP). The LIP is theoretically informed, and this paper presents data supporting its effectiveness. Designed to encourage regular interaction with course materials, the LIP encourages online student-driven engagement with the material, provides interactive feedback by explaining incorrect answers, and assists students to track their progress across the semester. Evidence and applications are discussed.