The Impact of the Evolution of Expected Peer Ability on Learning Behaviors and Performance in Introductory Economics Courses

Students choose how much to study based on their expected ability. Past studies indicate students exhibit overconfident grade expectations and tend to overestimate the actual course grade at the completion of courses in Economics. Other studies have examined the role of expected ability on graduation or dropout. This study focuses on the link between students’ general expected ability relative to their peers and their class performance. After measuring the evolution of students’ self-perceptions of relative ability across a semester, we investigate how these expectations influence learning habits and outcomes in an introductory economics classroom at a large public university.