RESOURCE: How to Game a Grading Curve
This is an amazing game theory outcome, and not one that economists would likely predict…In this one-off final exam, there are at least two Bayesian Nash equilibria a stable outcome, where no student has an incentive to change his strategy after considering the other students’ strategies. Equilibrium #1 is that no one takes the test, and equilibrium #2 is that everyone takes the test. Both equilibria depend on what all the students believe their peers will do.If all students believe that everyone will boycott with 100 percent certainty, then everyone should boycott #1. But if anyone suspects that even one person will break the boycott, then at least someone will break the boycott, and everyone else will update their choices and decide to take the exam #2.
Written by Brian S McGowan, PhD
Dr. McGowan has served in leadership positions in numerous medical educational organizations and commercial supporters and is a Fellow of the Alliance (FACEhp). He founded the Outcomes Standardization Project, launched and hosted the Alliance Podcast, and most recently launched and hosts the JCEHP Emerging Best Practices in CPD podcast. In 2012 he Co-Founded ArcheMedX, Inc, a healthcare informatics and e-learning company to apply his research in practice.
