Fig. 3: Performance of “Exceeds Expectations” student subset.

The “Exceeds Expectations” (EE) subset of students (defined as those who received a combined Discovery grade ≥1 SD (18.0%) higher than their final course grade) performed (a) lower on their final course grade and (b) higher in the Discovery program as a whole when compared to their classmates. d–h EE students received significantly higher grades on each Discovery deliverable than their classmates, except for their (c) introductory essays and (h) final presentations. The EE subset also tended (i) to have a higher relative rate of attendance during Discovery sessions but no difference in (j) classroom attendance. N = 99 EE students and 169 non-EE students (268 total). Grade data expressed as mean ± SEM.