Optimal team formation

Last registered on September 12, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Optimal team formation
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0016694
Initial registration date
September 05, 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 12, 2025, 10:11 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
India
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Haruka Uchida
Affiliation
University of Chicago
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
John List
PI Affiliation
University of Chicago
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Anuj Kumar
PI Affiliation
University of Florida
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-05-01
End date
2025-12-31
Keywords
Agriculture, Education
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study tests peer effects on academic achievement in schools and whether peers with similar-to-self academic achievement and social preferences increase academic achievement. We randomly assign students to teams, varying at the student-level whether they are matched to teammates with similar academic achievement or social preferences, or dissimilar.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Kumar, Anuj, John List and Haruka Uchida. 2025. "Optimal team formation." AEA RCT Registry. September 12. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.16694-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Please see pre-analysis plan.
Intervention (Hidden)
Students will randomized into teams within-class.
Teams will be formed based on academic achievement and social preferences. The academic achievement measure will be the number of questions that the student got correct on the 25-question baseline assessment, and social preferences will be measured by the first principal component of their average dictator game response and their average reciprocity game response, which are elicited in the baseline.
Intervention Start Date
2025-09-08
Intervention End Date
2025-12-20

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Please see pre-analysis plan.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Our main outcome of interest is cognitive skills, which are elicited in both the baseline and endline assessments.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Please see pre-analysis plan.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
Our secondary outcomes will help us investigate mechanisms, by testing the effects of teammates on students’ self-perception of own academic achievement, returns to teamwork, costs of teamwork, as well as the frequency of helping (number of times that the student is named for helping another on homework), frequency of receiving help (number of times that the student names another for helping on homework), and school attendance.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Please see pre-analysis plan.
Experimental Design Details
All participating schools will receive tablets with pre-loaded educational software for students to do math practice assignments and assessments during the school day. Students in 3rd-6th grade will complete the baseline assessments on the software, which are then used to randomly assign students to teams. During the experiment, teachers will provide class instructions to students on various math topics following the existing curriculum and pedagogy. After a few lectures, they will assign base assignments to students on the software platform. Upon completing the base assignment, the software provides students with feedback on the knowledge gaps of all team members. Teachers will be trained to encourage students to help their teammates so that they can win team-based tournaments. After the base assignment, students receive personalized assignments on the software platform that offer them more questions in their knowledge gaps.

Students will be randomly assigned to teams based on academic achievement and social preferences (above/below median of each measure). Randomization will assign students to teammates who are either similar in the measures or dissimilar (e.g. assigned to teammates who are below median achievement when the student is above median achievement), to test whether students benefit more from being matched to similar-achievement and similar-social preference peers than dissimilar.
Randomization Method
Please see pre-analysis plan and experimental design.
Randomization Unit
Please see pre-analysis plan.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
NA
Sample size: planned number of observations
Please see pre-analysis plan.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Please see pre-analysis plan.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Florida
IRB Approval Date
2025-02-03
IRB Approval Number
IRB202500113
IRB Name
University of Chicago
IRB Approval Date
2025-02-19
IRB Approval Number
IRB25
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