Research Article

How Do Students Allocate Their Time? An Application of Prospect Theory to Tradeâ€offs between Time Spent to Improve GPA Versus Time Spent on Other Activities

Brian K. Coffey(a), Andrew Barkley(a), Glynn T. Tonsor(a) and Jesse B. Tack(a)
(a)Kansas State University

JEL Codes: A22, I15, O12, O13, Q56
Keywords: Teaching and learning, prospect theory, choice experiment, university students

Publish Date: July 8, 2020
Volume 2, Issue 3

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Abstract

We employ a choice experiment survey to elicit university studentsâ€™ preferences for grade point average (GPA) relative to time spent on various activities. Using expected utility and prospect theory approaches to analyze those preferences, we find statistically significant asymmetry between the desire to increase GPA and the desire to avoid a decrease in GPA. Surveyed students were loss averse regarding GPA: they would trade approximately 4.6 times as much free time to avoid losing a point in their semester GPA relative to time they are willing to give up to gain one additional point. This study contributes to the growing research regarding prospect theory by analyzing loss aversion in a novel context of studentsâ€™ time allocation.

About the Authors: Brian Coffey is in an Associate Professor at Kansas State University (Corresponding Author: bcoffey@ksu.edu). Andrew Barkley is a Professor and University Distinguished Teaching Scholar at Kansas State University. Glynn T. Tonsor is a Professor at Kansas State University. Jesse B. Tack is an Associate Professor at Kansas State University. Acknowledgement: The authors would like to thank the students who participated in the survey for this research. We also thank Jayson Lusk for helpful comments on experiment design and Whitney Bowman for data entry. Remaining errors are ours. This research has been reviewed and approved by the Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects at Kansas State University (Proposal - 9411).

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