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Online Education: How Interactive Teacher Intervention Impacts Student Development

Last registered on December 12, 2022
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Online Education: How Interactive Teacher Intervention Improves Students’ Academic Achievements and Non-cognitive Abilities?
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0010355
Initial registration date
November 06, 2022

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
November 08, 2022, 3:44 PM EST

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

Last updated
December 12, 2022, 7:03 AM EST

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

Locations

Country
China
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Chunchao Wang
Affiliation
School of Economics and Jinan University—University of Birmingham Joint Institute, Jinan University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Yaru Zhang
PI Affiliation
Jinan University
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PI Name
Hang Zou
PI Affiliation
Jinan University
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PI Name
Aiping Xiao
PI Affiliation
Guangdong University of Finance
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PI Name
Yao Wang
PI Affiliation
Jinan University
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Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2019-09-20
End date
2020-07-10
Keywords
Education, Labor
Additional Keywords
Online education; interactive teacher intervention; academic achievements; non-cognitive abilities
JEL code(s)
C93; I21; J24; Z13
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Using a field experiment in China, we are the first to investigate how interactive teacher intervention in online education influences primary school students’ academic achievements and non-cognitive abilities. We find that adding 30-minute interactive online recitation sessions to pure online courses can significantly improve students’ exam scores and promote their extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness. We then identify, both theoretically and empirically, two underlying mechanisms explaining the positive effects of our interactive teacher intervention:students who participate in the session develop better in-class self-discipline and attention; they also devote more time to study and less time with mobile devices after class.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Wang, Chunchao et al. 2022. "Online Education: How Interactive Teacher Intervention Improves Students’ Academic Achievements and Non-cognitive Abilities?." AEA RCT Registry. December 12. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.10355-1.4
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
we conduct an 8-week randomized experiment for students in L county in China during the school closure period due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, where some randomly chosen students are provided an opportunity to join a 30-minute interactive online recitation session.
Intervention Start Date
2020-02-15
Intervention End Date
2020-04-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
K-12 students’ academic achievements and non-cognitive abilities.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We randomly selected one class from each of the three grades in 5 schools to compose our treatment group. In total, we have 718 students from 15 classes, which account for one quarter of the whole sample. The remaining 2,319 students formed the control group. As for the treatment group, we sent the corresponding teachers a request about teaching a recitation session to the students through online Tencent Meeting. Every Friday after the regular learning time, the teachers and students would attend a 30-minute online recitation class, which was set up by our experimental team members.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
We randomly choose 15 classes and provide students in those classes access to a 30-minute interactive online recitation session.
Randomization Unit
class
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
5 schools
Sample size: planned number of observations
3037 students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
718 students are treatment group 2319 students are control group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Study has received IRB approval. Details not available.
IRB Approval Date
Details not available
IRB Approval Number
Details not available
IRB Name
Study has received IRB approval. Details not available.
IRB Approval Date
Details not available
IRB Approval Number
Details not available
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