Will this be on the exam? Or, how to get students to study more

Prior to the first exam, students in my business statistics class always anxiously ask what they should expect. What will be the content and format of the test; how long will it be; how should they best prepare for the exam? Several students have access to old exams from friends and clearly have the advantage over those students who do not. After hearing this plea semester after semester, I finally decided to make copies of the last semester's exam and distribute them to my students so that they would all know the content and format of the next exam. At the same time, I was puzzling over how to motivate students to spend more effort studying for the exam. Whether classes are based on lectures, hands-on activities, spreadsheets, simulations, or any combination of these, I think that we can all agree that, in general, students who study more do better in class. Students who spend more time on the material are more likely to answer questions correctly in class, are more likely to get higher exam grades, and are more likely to learn. If our goal is for students to learn more, the problem becomes how do we get them to spend more time with the material? How do we motivate students to study more? This is an especially difficult question when teaching service courses or introductory classes in which students have little or no interest. Because they do not view the material as being important to their careers, they are not eager to invest much time in studying for them. A common question is ‘Why do I have to know this? I will not need any of it after I pass this class.’ It occurred to me that I might be able to solve both problems with one solution. By distributing a copy of old exams to students, I could help them become more familiar with the format and content (enabling them to do better on their exam). By offering an extra credit point or two for the completion of the practice exam I could motivate them to do more work for the class (enabling them to learn more).