Helping Students to Succeed -- The Long-Term Effects of Soft Commitments and Reminders

Last registered on March 06, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Helping Students to Succeed -- The Long-Term Effects of Soft Commitments and Reminders
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013092
Initial registration date
February 23, 2024

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 06, 2024, 3:15 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
Germany
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Oliver Himmler
Affiliation
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Robert Jaeckle
PI Affiliation
TH Nuernberg
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PI Name
Raphael Brade
PI Affiliation
ifo Munich
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PI Name
Philipp Weinschenk
PI Affiliation
TU Kaiserslautern
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Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2013-10-01
End date
2020-01-31
Keywords
Behavior, Education
Additional Keywords
commitment device; reminders; higher education
JEL code(s)
I21, I23, C93, D90, D91
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
To study whether a soft commitment device can help students succeed, we conduct a randomized field experiment and follow a cohort of tertiary students over six years. Students can commit to following their recommended study program structure, and they receive reminders each semester. This easily implementable, low-cost intervention is highly effective: it increases the five-year graduation rate (+15 percentage points) and reduces time to graduation (-0.42 semesters), driven by reduced dropout and an increase in credits obtained per semester. The effects are stronger for suspected procrastinators. A treatment only reminding students to follow the program structure has limited effects.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Brade, Raphael et al. 2024. "Helping Students to Succeed -- The Long-Term Effects of Soft Commitments and Reminders." AEA RCT Registry. March 06. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13092-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2013-10-01
Intervention End Date
2020-01-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Graduation rate, dropout rate, time to degree.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Students were randomly assigned to control or one of the following two conditions:
1) Reminder. Students in this condition receive two letters per semester in the mail informing them about upcoming exam registration periods, and upcoming exam weeks, respectively.
2) Commitment: in addition to receiving reminders, these students are offered to sign a commitment device. They can commit to adhering to the exam schedule recommended by the university.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
392 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
392 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
131 students in control
132 students in reminder treatment
129 students in commitment treatment
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
392 individuals
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
392 individuals
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
131 students in control 132 students in reminder treatment 129 students in commitment treatment
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials