Peer selection and performance - A field experiment in higher education

Last registered on March 02, 2018
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Peer selection and performance - A field experiment in higher education
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0002757
Initial registration date
March 01, 2018

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
March 02, 2018, 5:09 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
Germany
Region
Rheinland-Pfalz

Primary Investigator

Name
Rainer Michael Rilke
Affiliation
WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Mira Fischer
PI Affiliation
University of Cologne
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PI Name
Burcin Yurtoglu
PI Affiliation
WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management
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Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2017-11-08
End date
2018-04-02
Keywords
Education, Labor
Additional Keywords
peer selection, group performance, individual performance, peer effects, education
JEL code(s)
D01, C93
Secondary IDs
Abstract
We investigate how individuals choose their peers and how endogenous peer selection influences performance. In a field experiment with students of a business school, we vary whether study groups are put together randomly, or whether students can choose their group partner endogenously. With the help of pre-elicited educational performance as well as demographic data, we are able to trace how individuals choose their partner and how these choices influence their group and individual performance during the course. Besides average performance, we analyze how the selection procedure influences the distribution of performance. We measure performance on three consecutive events. The groups' performance is measured by their score on two different exercise sheets during the semester and individual performance is measured by a student's outcome on the final exam. Students only learn about their performance after the final exam. Secondary outcomes of interest are ability beliefs, satisfaction, and social preferences.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Fischer, Mira, Rainer Michael Rilke and Burcin Yurtoglu. 2018. "Peer selection and performance - A field experiment in higher education." AEA RCT Registry. March 02. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2757-1.0
Former Citation
Fischer, Mira, Rainer Michael Rilke and Burcin Yurtoglu. 2018. "Peer selection and performance - A field experiment in higher education." AEA RCT Registry. March 02. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2757/history/26264
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Students are randomly assigned to one of two exercise classes. In one class they are randomly matched with a peer. In the other class, matching is endogenous and students choose the peer themselves. In both classes, these groups of two solve the same two exercise sheets together and receive a common grade for each. Then every student individually writes the same exam. There is no intermediate feedback and students only learn about their performance a few weeks after the exam.
Intervention Start Date
2017-11-08
Intervention End Date
2018-03-02

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Performance in two exercise sheets (group performance) and the final exam (individual performance) in the subject of microeconomics. We analyze treatment effects both on average performance as well as on the distribution of performance.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
The marking is blind, i.e. it will be done by a person not informed about the fact that an experiment took place.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
ability beliefs, satisfaction, social preferences
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experiment's setting is a business school in Germany. All students enrolled in a bachelor's program have to participate in the same microeconomics class during their first semester. The class is taught in three groups: two groups for students in the regular track and one group for students in the international track. Only students in the regular track are part of the experiment. Students do not know that an experiment is taking place.
Students in the regular track are randomly assigned to one of two groups. In one of those groups students are randomly matched with a peer, in the other group matches are formed endogenously. Students have to solve two exercise sheets with their peer during the semester and receive a common grade for each sheet, which each makes up 15% of the final grade. In the end of the semester, each student individually writes an exam which makes up 70% of the final grade. Immediately after the exam, students are asked to fill in a questionnaire that elicits demographic information, ability beliefs, satisfaction and social preferences. At the time of this registration the intervention has already started but the final exam has not been written and the exercise sheets have not been graded. Thus registration took place before any outcome data became available.
We received permission to run the experiment from the business school's academic director as well as its program manager. None of the institutions we are affiliated with has an institutional review board.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Students are randomly assigned to an exercise class by a coin flip. Within the random assignment class, students are assigned a peer with the help of a random draw by a spreadsheet program.
Randomization Unit
Students are individually randomized into one of the two exercise classes. Within the exercise class with random peer assignment, students are individually matched with a peer. The type of peer assignment was thus clustered within class.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
2 classes
Sample size: planned number of observations
In total, we have 192 students (96 groups).
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
96 students (48 groups) in the class with endogenous peer selection, 96 students (48 groups) in the class with random peer selection
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

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