Freshmen Teachers and College Major Choice: Evidence from a Random Assignment in Chile

Last registered on April 10, 2016

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Freshmen Teachers and College Major Choice: Evidence from a Random Assignment in Chile
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0001166
Initial registration date
April 08, 2016

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
April 08, 2016, 8:19 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
April 10, 2016, 11:53 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2005-01-01
End date
2017-01-01
Secondary IDs
Abstract
We exploit the exogenous characteristic of random freshmen course assignment in a large Chilean university to identify the causal effect of teachers and their qualitative characteristics over students' major choice. Using administrative records, we establish what makes students from the ``Commercial Engineering'' career chose between an ``Economics'' major or a ``Business'' major. This is tested under different provided specifications. Placebo-type tests are performed.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Karnani, Mohit. 2016. "Freshmen Teachers and College Major Choice: Evidence from a Random Assignment in Chile." AEA RCT Registry. April 10. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.1166-2.0
Former Citation
Karnani, Mohit. 2016. "Freshmen Teachers and College Major Choice: Evidence from a Random Assignment in Chile." AEA RCT Registry. April 10. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/1166/history/7592
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2005-01-01
Intervention End Date
2015-01-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Major Choice of a University Degree
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Freshmen courses are randomly assigned at a large Chilean university. Different teachers on key courses such as Introduction to Economics induce in a causal fashion the major choice that is made as a second year student in the Commercial Engineering career.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Student level
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
10 cohorts of students
Sample size: planned number of observations
about 2000 students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
about 150 students per each of 13 different treatments (teachers)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials