Effect of Media Courses on Media Competence

Last registered on July 13, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Effect of Media Courses on Media Competence
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0019114
Initial registration date
July 07, 2026

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
July 13, 2026, 7:34 AM EDT

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Thomas Bolli
Affiliation
SML/CLDR
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Patrick Arni
PI Affiliation
ZHAW
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PI Name
Isabel Willemse
PI Affiliation
ZHAW
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PI Name
Lilian Suter
PI Affiliation
ZHAW
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2026-10-01
End date
2028-09-30
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
I29
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study evaluates the impact of a short-term intervention on media competence for secondary school students in seventh to ninth grade in Switzerland. The intervention consists a workshop that lasts for half a day and is supervised by trained instructors. The workshop involves presen-tations and group work about online addiction, online violence, influencers, online sexual con-tent, real or fake news and FOMO.
We perform a randomized controlled trial where randomization is conducted on a quarterly ba-sis between Autumn 2026 and Summer 2028. In total, we expect 60 classes with around 20 students to be involved.
To assess the influence of the intervention, we will conduct surveys collecting data on students’ media competences. We will administer three surveys: one survey shortly before treatment and one shortly after the intervention to measure short-term effects. Since intervention dates are fixed, we randomize whether the third survey occurs two months before or after the interven-tion.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Arni, Patrick et al. 2026. "Effect of Media Courses on Media Competence." AEA RCT Registry. July 13. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.19114-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The intervention consists of a workshop that aims to improve media competence. The interven-tion lasts for half a day and is supervised by trained instructors.
Intervention Start Date
2026-10-01
Intervention End Date
2028-09-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
• Media attitudes, norms and self-efficacy
• Intended and actual media use
• Psychological well-being

Subsample analysis
• Treatment intensity: We hypothesize that the effect of intervention is larger for topics covered in the group work.
• Media usage: We hypothesize that the effect of the intervention is larger for topics that are relevant to how the individual uses media.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We have classes from different schools across Switzerland applying to participate in the inter-vention. We will randomly select 60 classes to participate in our study, where 30 will undergo the treatment.
We will administer three surveys: one shortly before intervention and one shortly after the inter-vention to measure short-term effects. We randomize whether the third survey takes place two months before or after the intervention.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
The randomization will be conducted using Excel.
Randomization Unit
Randomization takes place on the class level. We use a simple cluster random assignment de-sign (CRA), with two levels (control and treatment). 50% of the classes will be randomized to treatment.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
We have a total of around 60 classes applying for the intervention. The average cluster size is 20 students per class (cluster).
Sample size: planned number of observations
The number of planned observations is 1200 students.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
We will have around 600 students in the control group, and around 600 in the treatment group.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
We assume the MRES to be 0.28 standard deviations, as previous studies have found this effect size (Jeong et al., 2012). We further assume power of 0.8, a Rho (ICC) of 0.1, R2 of 0.9, and a non-response rate of 100%. This yields an MDES of 0.396 SD.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan