Beyond the basics: Improving post-primary content delivery through classroom technology

Last registered on November 19, 2018

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Beyond the basics: Improving post-primary content delivery through classroom technology
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0003536
Initial registration date
November 17, 2018

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
November 19, 2018, 11:04 PM EST

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
University of Delaware

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
University of Delaware

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2016-09-01
End date
2017-03-31
Secondary IDs
Abstract
In many developing countries educational access has increased since 2000, yet learning levels remain disturbingly low. This study used an RCT in Pakistan to test a novel middle school intervention that briefly trained teachers on pedagogical techniques and provided classrooms with video content to enhance middle school students' achievement in grade level mathematics and science. We test students using an exam designed specifically for the study. We also test the impact of the program on scores in a provincial standardized test, which all students take for admission into public high schools. We measure and test the programs impact on student and teacher attendance, and other measures of student and teacher effort.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Beg, Sabrin and Adrienne Lucas. 2018. "Beyond the basics: Improving post-primary content delivery through classroom technology." AEA RCT Registry. November 19. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.3536-1.0
Former Citation
Beg, Sabrin and Adrienne Lucas. 2018. "Beyond the basics: Improving post-primary content delivery through classroom technology." AEA RCT Registry. November 19. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/3536/history/37553
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The intervention, eLearn, was part of Punjab's broader "Education Road Map" to improve education throughout the province. eLearn was developed and implemented by the Punjab provincial government, Information Technology University Lahore, and the Punjab Information Technology Board, an autonomous department under the Planning and Development Department of Punjab.

To increase student learning, the eLearn intervention increased the availability of high quality subject specific content through technology and a two day teacher in-service training. The main component of the intervention was video lectures. Each video lecture was developed and presented by subject experts to explain a particular math or science concept. All videos directly mapped to the official curriculum. The math content was a total of 12 hours and 21 minutes broken into 77 videos of between 1.5 and 21 minutes in length with an average of 10 minutes per video. Each of the 10 chapters of the official curriculum had at least 35 minutes of content and 4 videos. For science, the total video length was 16.5 hours, spread across 115 videos of between 3 and 27 minutes in length with an average of 8 minutes. Each of the 12 chapters of the official science curriculum had at least 23 minutes of content and 2 videos. Paired with some videos were an additional 3 to 5 minutes of multimedia content that the teacher could play to reinforce the content of the videos, e.g. an animation of photosynthesis. The total content across all videos was about 29 hours.

To see and display these video lectures and multimedia content, teachers were given small, pre-loaded tablets. Teachers could use these tablets to watch the videos themselves when preparing for lectures and project them on installed LED television screens. These tablets further contained 3 to 5 multiple choice assessment questions and their answers that teachers could use to engage the class after each video and suggestions for further in-class activities relevant to each topic.

To display this content to the class, 40" LED televisions were installed above the existing chalk or white board enabling teachers to continue to use the board in an interactive way with the videos.

Teachers received a two day in-service training session that oriented them on the new technologies and introduced a blended learning approach that combined their own face-to-face teaching with technology-enabled multimedia content.
Intervention Start Date
2016-10-01
Intervention End Date
2017-01-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1. Student test scores on independently designed tests
2. Student test scores on provincial standardized exams.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
1. Teacher and student attendance
2. Other teacher effort (time spent on teaching)
3. Other student effort (time spent on study)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Our study takes place within Lahore, Multan, and Rawalpindi districts of Punjab Province, Pakistan. These districts contain 20 percent of the total population in the province. To be eligible for our study, schools had to appear in the Punjab School Census, include grades 1 through 10, and have a boundary wall, electricity, and physical classrooms basic amenities in the Punjab context.

From eligible schools, 60 schools, an equal number of boys' and girls' schools, were selected for the sample. Randomization was strati ed by district and gender.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office using stata
Randomization Unit
School
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
60 schools
Sample size: planned number of observations
1800 students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
30 treatment, 30 control schools
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
0.23 standard deviation of test score
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Delaware IRB
IRB Approval Date
2016-07-28
IRB Approval Number
N/A

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
March 31, 2017, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
March 31, 2017, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
59 schools
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
2,622 students, 115 teachers
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
29 control schools, 30 treatment schools
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials