A Simple Path Forward: An Analog Solution for a Digital World

In getting through the audiobook of Elements of Choice by Eric J. Johnson Chapter 5 discusses how defaults work, specifically through three channels; ease, endorsement, and endowment. The book goes through a variety of situations and examples of people making choices, for good and bad, and uses them to examine the ways and reasons we make decisions. Default choices are a way organizations and people can frame choices to others, like an opt-in to a mailing address when you order something from a store.

A default makes a choice easier in that people are unlikely to make a change. The example of setting a 3% withholding for a retirement account is shared in the book, and how few people increase or decrease that savings rate. The default endorses the specific choice, for good or bad if the choice giver is looking to capitalize on that default. There is also an endowment effect that happens, where after a period people feel attached to the default as if it were their choice.

I am reading the book to figure out a way to help students make better choices around completing coursework, and to practice the skills and knowledge in my classes. My class success and DFW rate that around half of my students are not making the decision to practice coursework. There could be a range of reasons for this, some I can address but many I can't;

• Student has more obligations than they have time for. There isn't a lot I can do about this, but I can be clear with class expectations on the first day of class to ensure they are in the right class. 
• Something comes up in a student's life that increases their obligations. Again, not much I can do about this reason, but if a student misses a class I can make sure they have what they need to address missing the class.
• Student does not know the prerequisite material. I can make sure that students are ready for the course by checking prerequisites and by providing a prerequisite check on the first day of class. Sure, it's a bit intimidating on the first day, and I expect students to get comfortable demonstrating what they know. 
• Student encounters difficulty in sitting down to work on course work. Alternatively they may encounter difficulty in getting into the online textbook and homework. 

That last reason has been gnawing at me; What if I can organize my class materials and assignments to reduce the friction so that students make the choice to complete coursework? Whatever it is needs to be self-contained (within reason), something I can include in grading (students don't do optional) and therefore is done on paper to reduce AI usage, and would support students making better choices. 

I have some thoughts on how to do the above, but what do you think? Are there structures, documents, processes, routines, or something I am not thinking of that can support students in making choices that support their learning?