App-based climate change education study in Malaysia

Last registered on January 10, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
App-based climate change education study in Malaysia
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0016219
Initial registration date
August 25, 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
September 01, 2025, 3:07 PM EDT

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

Last updated
January 10, 2026, 1:31 AM EST

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Lawrence Jin
Affiliation
National University of Singapore
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Grace Lee
PI Affiliation
PI Name
Rhea Molato
PI Affiliation
PI Name
Elaine Tan
PI Affiliation
PI Name
Milan Thomas
PI Affiliation

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-07-01
End date
2026-05-01
Keywords
Behavior, Education, Environment & Energy
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This research (in collaboration with Asian Development Bank and the global non-profit company Solve Education!) aspires to improve learning outcomes at the lower secondary school level in Malaysia by investigating the role of a gamified online education platform.

According to a 2024 study by PISA, students all over Asia and the Pacific are spending more time on electronic devices every year, and there is scope for capitalizing on this development to lessen learning anxiety and reduce learning poverty, which stood at 43% in Malaysia just before the COVID-19 pandemic. Gamified learning and AI-powered chatbots have shown promise in other settings as a supplement to traditional classroom instruction. A concurrent, pressing global challenge is climate change. The learning crisis and the climate crisis are intertwined, as education is the strongest single predictor of climate-friendly behavior (World Bank 2024).

In this study, we propose to conduct a randomized controlled trial with 150 secondary schools in Malaysia, in which we incentivize the use of a gamified online education platform (developed by Solve Education!). The platform provides various modules for students, including English and climate change education. We will provide various incentives (e.g., weekly prizes) for form 1 students to complete the climate change education module, and monitor its effects on students' climate change knowledge, environmental attitudes, and behavior, as well as potential spillover effects on other subjects such as English. The student outcomes are measured through three waves of surveys: a baseline survey, a midline survey after a 12-week intervention period, and an endline survey after a 12-week post-intervention period. Across the three waves of surveys, we evaluate the effectiveness of the gamified educaiton platform in both the short-run and long-run.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Jin, Lawrence et al. 2026. "App-based climate change education study in Malaysia." AEA RCT Registry. January 10. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.16219-1.1
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The main intervention is a "tournament" in which we provide three different types of incentives for students to complete a 12-week module on climate change education in the online learning platform:

-- Weekly prizes for students who have accumulated most number of points in the climate change module (per school)
-- Grand prizes for students who have accumulated most number of points in the climate change module over a 12-week period
-- Grand prizes for teachers who have exhibited excellence across three dimensions: impact, innovation, and equity (requires teacher submission)
Intervention Start Date
2025-09-01
Intervention End Date
2025-11-24

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1. Students' performance on climate change knowledge quiz
2. Students' attitudes and behaviors related to climate change
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
1. Students' performance in knowledge quizes of other subjects (English, Math)
2. Students' general attitudes towards studying habits
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experiment consists of 12-week intervention period followed by a 12-week post-intervention period.

For the 12-week intervention period, the 150 schools are split into one of two conditions:

1. Control
2. Treatment

The control schools receive information brochure about the Solve Education! online learning platform, its modules, and instructions on how to set up accounts for students. The treatment schools receive the same brochure, and are additionally entered into a "tournament". The tournament provides various incentives for form 1 students to complete a module on climate change education (see Interventions above).

Upon completion of the 12-week intervention period, we will further randomize students into receiving nudges to encourage them to continue using the online learning platform in the absence of tournament incentives:

A. Motivational exercises
B. Whatsapp reminders

Motivational exercises ask students to reflect on who they aspire to be when they grow up, and how continuing to learn various subjects (e.g., English and Math) via the online learning platform will help them achieve their goals.

Whatsapp reminders will provide students with a weekly message to remind them to continue learning using the platform. We will randomly vary the message content (no message, simple message, or commitment message) as well as the timing of the message (morning, afternoon or evening).

More details about these two behavioral interventions are available in an attached document.

We will continue to monitor students' outcomes for 12 more weeks after the conclusion of the intervention period.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Computer
Randomization Unit
Tournament: School-level randomization
Motivational exercise: School-level randomization
WhatsApp reminders: Individual-level randomization
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
150 Schools
Sample size: planned number of observations
7,500 Form 1 Students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
75 Schools Control, 75 Schools 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
National University of Singapore Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2025-05-16
IRB Approval Number
NUS-IRB-2025-305
Analysis Plan

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