Will a peer sample motivate growth?

In the 3rd week of PSY 101 students have to complete an assignment critical to college success (locating a research article in an academic journal on a specific topic and providing a summary, APA style reference, & informed opinion).  Recognizing that this task is usually just beyond the students' current abilities, I use extensive scaffolding to support their acquisition of these important skills. Nonetheless, grades on this assignment remain low and approximately 60 % of students are unable to successfully complete the full task. I have given samples of what I expect but this hasn't raised the frequency of success as much as hoped.  This semester I am providing a sample of a successful paper submitted by a 1st year student last semester, with the author's identity disclosed, to test the idea that identifying a peer who succeeded with similar challenges will provoke greater effort and ultimately greater success.

It worked! See results in separate CATS.