Can A Mid-Term Meeting with Faculty Improve Academic Outcomes of Low-performing College Students? Experimental Evidence

Last registered on May 12, 2023

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Can A Mid-Term Meeting with Faculty Improve Academic Outcomes of Low-performing College Students? Experimental Evidence
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0011119
Initial registration date
March 17, 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 21, 2023, 4:38 PM EDT

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

Last updated
May 12, 2023, 3:38 PM EDT

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

Locations

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Bryant University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
Bryant University
PI Affiliation
Bryant University

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2023-02-06
End date
2023-05-31
Secondary IDs
I2
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
College students who perform poorly in the first half of a course are at a higher risk of continued poor performance for the remainder of the term. Therefore, a timely intervention by faculty may impact academic outcomes among low-performing students. This study examines the effectiveness of a mid-term meeting with faculty on academic outcomes and retention rates among low-performing students. We will conduct a randomized controlled trial among college students enrolled in introductory economics classes. Treated students will receive an email from their instructor encouraging them to meet and discuss their academic progress and ways to improve. We will estimate the intent-to-treat effect of the email intervention on academic outcomes and the average treatment effect of meeting on the treated using data on actual meetings. The results of this study could inform interventions to support the academic success and retention of low-performing college students.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Kaminaga, Allison , Xiaofei Pan and Ferdous Sardar. 2023. "Can A Mid-Term Meeting with Faculty Improve Academic Outcomes of Low-performing College Students? Experimental Evidence." AEA RCT Registry. May 12. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11119-2.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention: An email from the instructor encouraging students to meet and discuss their academic progress and ways to improve.
Intervention Start Date
2023-03-20
Intervention End Date
2023-03-24

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Academic outcomes.

We will specify various specific outcomes in a pre-analysis plan which we will submit before the endline data collection.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Students whose overall grade up to the mid term is below class median will be included in the sample.
Around half of them will be randomly selected for treatment.

Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Stratified randomization using Stata.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
~ 280
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
~ 140 in each group.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
A study on mid-term faculty intervention on student performance
IRB Approval Date
2023-02-01
IRB Approval Number
2023-0201
Analysis Plan

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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