The Ability of Real Estate Students to Self-Assess: Implications for Effective Course Management

Figures & data

Exhibit 2. Sample Data Per Course and Per Exam.

Semester	University	Course Level	Subject	Total Number of Respondents Per Exam^12		Gender Breakdown of Respondents Per Exam		Percent Respondents who Earned Extra Credit Per Exam	Gender Breakdown of Respondents who Earned Extra Credit Per Exam
						Male	Female		Male	Female
Fall 2016	TAMU	Undergrad	RE	Exam I	124	59.0%	41.0%	16.9%	66.7%	33.3%
				Exam II	120	59.0%	41.0%	29.2%	60.0%	40.0%
				Exam III	116	59.0%	41.0%	15.5%	44.4%	55.6%
Spring 2017	GW	Undergrad	RE	Exam I	38	71.0%	29.0%	7.9%	100.0%	0.0%
				Exam II	39	72.0%	28.0%	15.4%	83.3%	16.7%
				Exam III	38	71.0%	29.0%	2.6%	100.0%	0.0%
Spring 2017	TAMU	Undergrad	RE	Exam I	55	52.0%	48.0%	12.1%	57.1%	42.9%
				Exam II	55	51.0%	49.0%	21.1%	50.0%	50.0%
				Exam III	56	53.0%	47.0%	12.3%	57.1%	42.9%
Spring 2017	TAMU	Graduate	RE	Exam I	45	67.0%	33.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
				Exam II	46	65.0%	35.0%	8.7%	50.0%	50.0%
Fall 2017	UIUC	Graduate	RE	Exam I	37	73.0%	27.0%	8.1%	66.7%	33.3%
				Exam II	37	73.0%	27.0%	13.5%	60.0%	40.0%
Spring 2018	GW	Undergrad	Bus	Exam I	41	73.0%	27.0%	11.6%	100.0%	0.0%
				Exam II	42	73.0%	27.0%	9.3%	75.0%	25.0%
				Exam III	37	73.0%	27.0%	2.3%	0.0%	100.0%
Spring 2018	UIUC	Undergrad	RE	Exam I	45	82.0%	18.0%	2.0%	100.0%	0.0%
				Exam II	42	82.0%	18.0%	20.0%	88.9%	11.1%
				Exam III	18^13	83.0%	17.0%	16.7%	100.0%	0.0%
Spring 2018	UIUC	Graduate	RE	Exam I	17	74.0%	26.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
				Exam II	19	74.0%	26.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%

Source: Authors own analysis.

Exhibit 3. Descriptive Statistics for All Exams.

Average Exam Score	76.3%
S.D.	11.8%
Range	14–100
Average Est. Exam Score	80.5%
S.D.	10.0%
Range	13–112*
Average Est. Class Score	79.6%
S.D.	6.1%
Range	15–110*
% of All Exams that Received Extra Credit	13.5%
% Male	8.4%
% Female	5.1%
n	1066

* Three students on different exams made estimations that were not bounded by 100. The motivation for these guesses is unknown as all three students had correctly interpreted the instructions on previous exams. As with all other exams, the decision was made to retain them as part of the sample, the inclusion of which was found to have no material effect on their respective averages.

Exhibit 4. Descriptive Statistics of All Exams Relative to Students’ Peer Group.

	% of Respondents who Earned Extra Credit Relative to Peer Group	% of Respondents whose Estimated Grade > Grade Earned Relative to Peer Group	% of Respondents whose Estimated Grade > Estimated Class Average Relative to Peer Group	n
All Exams: Undergrad Students	15%	64%	55%	865
All Exams: Graduate Students	6%	65%	49%	201
All Exams: Male Students	13%	67%	54%	694
All Exams: Female Students	15%	59%	55%	372
All Exams: Real Estate Students	14%	63%	55%	947
All Exams: Non-Real Estate Students	8%	73%	46%	119

* Groups were compared to their peers, such as undergraduates relative to undergraduates, given that the groups themselves made up very different proportions of the overall sample.

Source: Authors own analysis.

Exhibit 5. Results of Student Exam Performance Relative to Self and Peer Estimations.

	Z-Test Score*
Are students able to accurately estimate their performance on any given exam:
All Students	−9.25
Males	−9.03
Females	−3.32
Undergraduates	−8.26
Graduates	−4.16
Real Estate	−8.03
Non-Real Estate	−5.04
Are students able to accurately estimate their performance relative to that of their peers:
All Student Exams	−2.67
Male Exams	−1.90
Female Exams	−1.92
Undergraduate Exams	−3.07
Graduate Exams	0.21
Real Estate Exams	−3.12
Non-Real Estate Exams	0.84

* Critical value of left-hand-tailed Z test at α = 0.05 equals −1.645.

Source: Authors own analysis.

Exhibit 6. Template for Instructor Discussion of Performance/Estimation.

	Exam Estimate:	True Grade:	Difference:	Class Average Estimate:	Performed Better than the Real Average*:
Student 1	94%	92%	−2%	83%	Yes
Student 2	93%	91%	−2%	82%	Yes
Student 3	89%	93%	+4%	86%	Yes
Student 4	87%	79%	−8%	85%	No
Student 5	83%	77%	−6%	79%	No
Etc.

* Assumed Real Average = 81%.

Exhibit 1. Distribution of All Exams*.

*Note: No exam exceeded 100% pre-extra credit. The smoothed distribution curve reflects the relatively high number of students who achieved 100% on their exams.

Source: Authors own analysis