Resumen de Students' Perceptions of Extra Credit
How students use extra credit in a class has been a concern of faculty for many years. The literature presents two perspectives on the subject. One perspective sees extra credit as a beneficial activity that motivates students and allows them to earn credit for work that goes beyond normal classroom expectations. The second perspective sees extra credit as a means for students to bargain their way to a higher grade. According to the second view, students are more concerned with using extra credit that is convenient and does not require work outside of class. Rather, students want to bargain away part of their class responsibilities by doing convenient extra projects. This study surveyed 134 students in Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM) classes at a major midwestern university. Students were asked to comment on past uses of extra credit, forms of extra credit they were likely to use, and their erceptions of extra credit advantages and disadvantages. Results suggest that the surveyed students strongly support the second perspective of extra credit. In the forms they had used in the past and in the forms they were most likely to use, students were more interested in forms that were convenient and could be used to improve a particular class grade. Students saw as advantages extra credit that could immediately help them individually. They were less concerned about fairness to all students and compromising class integrity. The strongest disadvantages dealt with unfairness of extra credit if not offered to all students. Results also indicated students' perceptions of extra credit were moderated by individual attributes. Most important appeared to be GPA and age. Academic major and gender were of less importance. Implications of the research for hospitality educators and suggestions for future research are also given.
