Online Assignments in Economics: A Test of Their Effectiveness

This article compares the effectiveness of online and paper-based assignments and tutorials using summative assessment results. All of the students in a large managerial economics course at National University of Ireland, Galway were asked to do six assignments online using Aplia and to do two on paper. The authors examined whether a student's performance on a particular section of the exam is affected (1) by how he or she performed on the corresponding assignment and (2) by whether the student completed the corresponding assignment on paper or online. Our results provide little evidence that a student's performance on an assignment helps him or her perform better on the corresponding section of the exam. We also found little evidence that the way in which one completes an assignment-on paper or online-has an effect on how one performs on a particular section of the exam.