Student success and satisfaction

Last registered on March 13, 2023

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Student success and satisfaction

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0011049

Initial registration date

March 07, 2023

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 13, 2023, 1:58 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country

Germany

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Friederike Hertweck

Affiliation

RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Melissa Kistner

PI Affiliation

Ruhr University Bochum

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Deborah Maffia

PI Affiliation

Ruhr University Bochum

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

On going

Start date

2022-11-01

End date

2023-03-31

Keywords

Education

Additional Keywords

Study habits, Information treatment, Student retention

JEL code(s)

I23, D91, C93

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

This study analyses the effect of an information treatment on undergraduate students’ performance, learning behavior, and satisfaction.
As part of an introductory course at a large German university, students receive randomly either a publicly available information on required learning intensity – or on loan periods at the library. Students are then tracked over their entire undergraduate course including their course-specific learning effort and their exam performance. Thereby, the study ascertains whether the provision of information at an early stage can affect academic performance.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Hertweck, Friederike, Melissa Kistner and Deborah Maffia. 2023. "Student success and satisfaction." AEA RCT Registry. March 13. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11049-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

We provide participants with either an information on required study effort or on loan charges as part of an online survey.

Intervention Start Date

2022-11-08

Intervention End Date

2022-12-13

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

The main outcome variable is a student’s activity on an online learning platform during the winter term 2022/23. Further outcome variables are the number of his/her exam registrations as well as the ultimate exam performance at the end of the winter term 2022/23.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary outcomes are changes in student behavior and student satisfaction.

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

The intervention is carried out as part of a lecture at a large German university. At the beginning of the first lecture, all students receive a leaflet that informs about the fact that a scientific study on learning and study satisfaction will take place during the lectures. This information will also be communicated to the students via an online learning platform (“Moodle”) to which all students register when they start the course. The intervention starts in lecture 3 with a reminder in one of the subsequent lectures. Data analysis will start once all data for the winter term 2022/23 is available, i.e., approximately in May 2023.

Experimental Design Details

The intervention on learning intensity is carried out as part of a lecture at Ruhr University Bochum. At the beginning of the first lecture, all students receive a leaflet that informs about the fact that a scientific study on learning and study satisfaction will take place during the lectures. This information will also be communicated to the students via an online learning platform (“Moodle”) to which all students register when they start the course.
During the third lecture, students are asked to participate in an online survey. All students are randomly assigned into a treatment and a control group with a 50% probability each (simple randomization). The treatment group receives information regarding the curricular required number of hours for studying (including non-supervised learning). The control group receives information on loan periods in the university library – which is not related to the curricular required learning effort. In a follow-up online survey, the treatment and control group are reminded of the previously conveyed information. Data analysis will start once all data for the winter term 2022/23 is available, i.e., approximately in May 2023.

Randomization Method

Simple randomization, done by algorithm within an online survey

Randomization Unit

Individual

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

N/A

Sample size: planned number of observations

600

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

300

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

The minimum detectable effect size is 0.27 standard deviations with 600 participants and an average Moodle activity of 3.81 hours per week (with standard deviation of 2.27). The mean and standard deviations are based on a short and not representative survey of 104 students taking the same course in the fall semester 2021/22.

Supporting Documents and Materials

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