Early-Semester Faculty-Student Meetings and College Success: Experimental Evidence

Last registered on September 20, 2023
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Early-Semester Faculty-Student Meetings and College Success: Experimental Evidence
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012139
Initial registration date
September 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
September 20, 2023, 11:04 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Ferdous Sardar
Affiliation
Bryant University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Allison Kaminaga
PI Affiliation

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2023-09-11
End date
2024-02-29
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
I21
Secondary IDs
A22
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
As the transition into college can be a challenging time for many students, colleges have developed various campus resources to support them. Faculty members, being integral to the college experience, are uniquely positioned to influence student success, especially during the initial weeks. In this study, we aim to provide experimental evidence on the impact of early-semester student-faculty meetings on students' success at college. Our sample includes 920 students enrolled in 32 sections of mandatory principles-level economics and statistics classes, taught by 18 distinct faculty members. The treatment, delivered to a random subset of our sample, consists of an email from the respective instructor encouraging students to meet during office hours at the beginning of the semester. Using both administrative and survey data, we will evaluate the impact of the interventions on academic performance and wellbeing. 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.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Kaminaga, Allison and Ferdous Sardar. 2023. "Early-Semester Faculty-Student Meetings and College Success: Experimental Evidence ." AEA RCT Registry. September 20. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12139-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
An email from the respective instructor encouraging students to meet during office hours at the beginning of the semester.
Intervention Start Date
2023-09-18
Intervention End Date
2023-10-14

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Exam performance
Course grades
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 enrolled in 32 sections of mandatory principles-level economics and statistics classes, taught by 18 distinct faculty members will be randomly assigned to treatment or control groups. Students selected for treatment will receive an email from the respective instructor encouraging students to meet during office hours at the beginning of the semester. Participating faculty members will maintain a record of meeting attendance and will share with the research team.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization is done by statistical software 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
~920
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Treatment group: ~478
Control group: ~442
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Bryant University
IRB Approval Date
2023-09-07
IRB Approval Number
2023-0907
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