Small Hands, Big Impact: Evaluation of a School-based Energy-conservation Education Program

Last registered on April 26, 2023
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Small Hands, Big Impact: Evaluation of a School-based Energy-conservation Education Program
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0011164
Initial registration date
April 21, 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
April 26, 2023, 5:17 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
China
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Huayu Xu
Affiliation
University of Michigan
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Yongmei Zhou
PI Affiliation
Peking University
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PI Name
Xiaoguang Xu
PI Affiliation
China Children and Teenagers' Fund
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PI Name
Yuan Wang
PI Affiliation
Peking University
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Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2023-04-10
End date
2023-08-20
Keywords
Education, Environment & Energy
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Energy conservation plays a crucial role in mitigating climate change. While past studies have primarily focused on adults when exploring energy conservation initiatives, there is a growing interest in educational programs aimed at children and teenagers. Can these younger generations act as catalysts for energy conservation within their families? This study seeks to address this question through a randomized controlled trial.

Our intervention is a school-based education program that aims to reduce household electricity consumption by educating children and teenagers. We plan to recruit around 2,400 students in grades 4-8 (approximately aged 9-15) from about 20 participating schools across five Chinese cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Luzhou, and Wuhan. Each school will have an average of four participating classes, with around 30 students per class. We will also recruit one guardian for each student, resulting in a total sample size of approximately 4,800 participants. Half of the classes will be randomly assigned to the treatment group, which will receive a five-week program focusing on education and activities related to electricity conservation, while the other half will be randomized into the control group and will not receive the intervention.

A baseline survey will be conducted before the start of the intervention, followed by an endline survey two months after the intervention concludes. The surveys will include a student questionnaire and a guardian questionnaire to measure pre- and post-intervention characteristics and outcomes, including knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to electricity conservation, and objective data on weekly household electricity consumption. This randomized experimental design, combined with micro-level data, will allow us to investigate the following questions: 1) Is the program effective at promoting energy-saving attitudes and behaviors among children and teenagers? 2) Could changes in attitudes and behaviors be transmitted to parents and other family members through interactions within the family? 3) Could these changes subsequently lead to reductions in family energy consumption?
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Wang, Yuan et al. 2023. "Small Hands, Big Impact: Evaluation of a School-based Energy-conservation Education Program." AEA RCT Registry. April 26. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11164-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The intervention will be a five-week program with three phases: knowledge acquisition, home energy audit, and social comparison.

During the first week of the intervention, students will participate in a self-directed research activity to deepen their understanding of energy conservation and the environmental impact of energy consumption. Students will be given a list of questions related to electricity production and consumption and their environmental consequences. Rather than providing standard answers, students will be encouraged to conduct their own research and discuss their findings with their parents or guardians. They will then share their research and perspectives with the class under the guidance of a teacher. This activity is designed to improve awareness and knowledge regarding energy conservation among students, as well as encourage discussions with their parents or guardians about the importance of energy conservation.

During the second week, students will be encouraged to work with their parents or guardians to conduct an audit of their home's electricity use, which includes measuring each appliance's power consumption and daily electricity usage. They will then complete an electricity audit form and develop a plan to reduce energy consumption at home. By identifying areas where they can reduce energy consumption, students and their families can develop strategies to achieve this goal. The main aim of this phase is to promote active engagement and create a sense of responsibility and ownership among students and their families regarding their energy use, motivating them to take action to conserve energy.

During weeks 3-5 of the intervention, the social comparison phase will take place. Students will be asked to report their households’ electricity usage data from the "Online State Grid" mobile phone application. Within-class competitions will be organized by a teacher each week based on students' electricity conservation (the percentage change in weekly electricity consumption). These activities aim to engage students in energy conservation and encourage behavior change through peer interaction and comparison. By organizing within-class competitions based on household energy conservation, students will have the opportunity to compare their own energy usage with that of their peers, creating a sense of social pressure and motivating students to reduce their households' energy consumption. Moreover, competition can make the energy conservation program more engaging and exciting for students, increasing their motivation to participate in the activities and adopt energy-saving behaviors.
Intervention Start Date
2023-04-28
Intervention End Date
2023-06-05

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Weekly household electricity consumption, measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh)
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding energy conservation.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We plan to recruit students in grades 4-8 (approximately aged 9-15) from about 20 schools across five Chinese cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Luzhou, and Wuhan. On average, each school will have four participating classes, and each class will include approximately 30 students. This will result in a total sample size of approximately 2,400 students. Additionally, we will recruit one guardian for each student to participate in the survey, resulting in a total sample size of approximately 4,800 participants.

A baseline survey will be administered after we obtain basic information about the participating classes, such as the number of students and their grade level, and before we start the intervention. The baseline survey will allow us to measure important pre-intervention characteristics of the student, the guardian, and the household. Once baseline data collection is complete for a school, we will randomly assign half of the classes in that school to the treatment group and the other half to the control group. The treatment group will receive a five-week program that focuses on education and activities related to electricity conservation, while the control group will receive no intervention. An endline survey will take place two months after the intervention ends to evaluate the relatively longer-term impact of the intervention on household electricity consumption.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
The randomization will be done using statistical software on a computer.
Randomization Unit
The randomization will be stratified by school and conducted at the class level. Specifically, half of the classes from each participating school will be randomly assigned to the treatment group, while the other half will be randomized into the control group.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
80 classes
Sample size: planned number of observations
2,400 students and 2,400 guardians
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
40 classes treatment, 40 classes control
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Peking University Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2023-04-10
IRB Approval Number
IRB00001052-23022
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