Calibrating Ambition: The Impact of Realistic Goal-Setting on Student Effort and Performance

Last registered on March 03, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Calibrating Ambition: The Impact of Realistic Goal-Setting on Student Effort and Performance
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015434
Initial registration date
February 28, 2025

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 03, 2025, 8:47 AM EST

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

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Primary Investigator

Name
Sarah Rezaei
Affiliation
Utrecht University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Bastian Westbrock
PI Affiliation
Swansea University
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-03-01
End date
2029-06-30
Keywords
Behavior, Education, Gender, Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract

This study investigates the effectiveness of a structured approach to goal-setting in improving student performance and effort. Traditional self-set goals often prove ineffective due to overconfidence, leading students to set overly ambitious goals that may backfire. In this experiment, students are asked to estimate the difficulty of broken-down tasks and the time required to achieve their goals. This process encourages reflection on their ambitions and helps them recalibrate their effort and adjust their goals more realistically. We test whether this method of setting more realistic goals leads to improvements in effort and academic performance.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Rezaei, Sarah and Bastian Westbrock. 2025. "Calibrating Ambition: The Impact of Realistic Goal-Setting on Student Effort and Performance." AEA RCT Registry. March 03. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15434-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
This study explores the impact of goal-setting on student effort and performance. Three groups are compared: a control group with no goal-setting, a group that sets performance goals, and a group that sets goals while estimating task difficulty and study time, with a chance to adjust their goals. The aim is to see if reflective goal-setting improves effort and performance.
Intervention Start Date
2025-03-03
Intervention End Date
2029-04-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

1. Effort Level: Measured by the amount of study time and task completion reported by students across the study period.
2. Performance: Assessed by student exam scores or grades.
3. Goal Realism: Measured by the difference between the initial goals set and the final adjusted goals in Treatment 2.
4. Goal Achievement Rate: The percentage of students who achieve their stated performance goals.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
**Experimental Design:**

Students participate as part of their course. After Survey 1, they are randomly assigned to:

1. Control: No goal-setting.
2. Treatment 1: Basic goal-setting.
3. Treatment 2: Structured goal-setting with reflection and goal adjustment.

We measure effort, attendance, and performance to assess the impact of goal-setting methods.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization will be done automatically via Qualtrics
Randomization Unit
individual students
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Across 2 universities and several classes (2-5)
Sample size: planned number of observations
1800 students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
600 per treatment arm
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Utrecht University- Utrecht School of Economics
IRB Approval Date
2024-08-14
IRB Approval Number
24-021
Analysis Plan