Microcredentials and the role of their verifiability in education

Last registered on November 12, 2020
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Microcredentials and the role of their verifiability in education
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0006729
Initial registration date
November 10, 2020

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 12, 2020, 8:18 AM EST

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

Locations

Country
Australia
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Loretti Dobrescu
Affiliation
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Alberto Motta
PI Affiliation

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2019-06-03
End date
2022-06-30
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
J24, J18
Secondary IDs
Abstract
This project explores the role of the verifiability of microcredentials in higher education.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Dobrescu, Loretti and Alberto Motta. 2020. "Microcredentials and the role of their verifiability in education." AEA RCT Registry. November 12. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.6729-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We estimate the effect of offering students additional skill-signalling opportunities in a large first year university course via microcredentials. 645 students who take the course are randomly assigned to 3 groups: one control and two treatments. All students, including the control, received the same type of information about their absolute and relative course performance. On top of this, those in the Non-Verifiable Treatment had access to a list of milestones based on various measures of course progression, real time feedback on their progress towards these goals, and the possibility to claim these microcredentials upon completing a milestone. Upon claiming a microcredential, the Verifiable Treatment students also had the opportunity to blockchain it, making it instantly verifiable against the awarding organization and easily sharable on social media.
The goal of this project is to explore whether microcredentials, verifiable or not, have an effect on educational attainment. We are additionally investigating the mechanism behind these effects.
Intervention Start Date
2019-06-03
Intervention End Date
2019-08-23

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1. Differences in academic performance between students with verifiable microcredentials compared to non-verifiable credentials and no credentials at all.
2. Differences in effort between students with verifiable microcredentials compared to non-verifiable credentials and no credentials at all.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
• There are 3 experimental groups: one control and 2 treatments.
• In all groups, including control, students receive the same type of information about their absolute and relative course performance in an online assignment.
• In treatment 1 ("Non-Verifiable Treatment"), the assignment will also provide a list of milestones based on various measures of assignment performance, real time feedback on their progress towards these goals, and the possibility to claim microcredentials upon completing a milestone.
• In treatment 2 ("Verifiable Treatment"), students have an additional opportunity (compared to treatment 1 students) to blockchain the microcredentials they claim, making them instantly verifiable against the awarding organization and easily sharable on social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter).
• Students only interact within their group. Groups are not connected.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization will be carried out by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Each student will be randomly assigned to a group (randomization unit = student).
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
NA
Sample size: planned number of observations
The analysis involving main outcomes (1) is based on 645 observations. Depending on the effort indicator mentioned in main outcomes (2), we have between 62 and 645 observations.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
We have 3 groups:
• Control group: 220 students
• Treatment group 1 (“Non-Verifiable Treatment”): 195 students
• Treatment group 2 (“Verifiable Treatment”): 230 students
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Human Ethics Research Committee at University of New South Wales
IRB Approval Date
2019-05-14
IRB Approval Number
HC190365
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
August 23, 2019, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
No
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials