Results supported our hypothesis that completion of required reading quizzes would improve
exam and course performance. This relatively minimal-effort technique had a significant effect
on performance. The number of reading quizzes a student completed predicted both exam
performance and overall course grade. Although the actual mean difference between the groups
was small, students’ performance on those exam questions covered by reading quizzes was
significantly better than their performance on questions not covered by quizzes. Moreover, the
effect of quizzes on students’ performance on exam questions about other class material was
mixed at best, suggesting the data reflect an actual effect of completing the quizzes, rather than
a general performance effect based on student ability or motivation. The success of this
exploration is encouraging in light of the decline in reading compliance over time (Brothen &
Wambach, 2004; Burchfield & Sappington, 2000; Clump et al., 2004; Sappington et al.,
2002)