From Controlled Trials to Classrooms: Analyzing the Translational Effectiveness of a Social-Psychological Intervention "in the Wild"

• In Event: Self-Regulated Learning Interventions Within Schools and Other Contexts

Abstract

Social-psychological interventions have raised learning and performance in rigorous efficacy trials, but little research has followed up on their translational effectiveness after they are distributed “in the wild” for students’ self-administration. Adapting one successful Strategic Resource Use intervention, we used innovative educational technology to tailor, scale up, and track its use among 12,065 college students in 14 STEM and Economics classes across 2 semesters. Students who used this “Exam Playbook” resource (vs. non-users) benefitted by a meta-analytic average of 2.17 percentage points (standardized effect size of 0.18) on exams in their courses. These average benefits varied by class climate (peer norms and incentives), gender, dosage, and timing. Our research contributes to improving prediction, translation, and replication of social-psychological intervention effects.

Authors

• Patricia Chen, University of Texas at Austin

• Dennis W. H. Teo, National University of Singapore

• Daniel X. Y. Foo, National University of Singapore

• Holly A. Derry, University of Michigan

• Benjamin T. Hayward, University of Michigan

• Kyle W. Schulz, University of Michigan

• Timothy A McKay, University of Michigan

• Desmond C. Ong, University of Texas at Austin