Effects of SI-PASS on a high-risk course – A randomized controlled trial

IF 4.7 1区教育学 Q1 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Learning and Instruction Pub Date : 2024-11-03 DOI:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2024.102042

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

SI-PASS is a structured academic support program employing successful later-year students to facilitate peer-learning sessions attached to high-risk courses, specifically here statistics for psychology at ULiège. The research translates as: How much does this method improve academic performance and impact socio-affective perceptions in first-year students?

Aims

This study compares academic performance and socio-affective variables of first-year students in the experimental condition and the control condition.

Sample

Participants were 245 freshmen for the experimental trial, and 985 for the quasi-experimental trial.

Methods

Participants were assigned to either participate to the SI-PASS scheme or not during the first semester following a randomized controlled trial with stratified random assignment method. Then, the whole cohort enlisted for the course was analyzed to validate supplementary hypotheses.

Results

The first step of the study reveals no difference between both groups on academic performance, unless the level of attendance is considered; nor does it identify any significant impact on socio-affective variables. The second step consisted in the comparison of the experimental group and the group of students who chose not to volunteer for SI-PASS and resulted in significant improvement in academic performance in favor of SI-PASS.

Conclusions

This delivered significant results in favor of the program but only when attendance is considered, thus offering empirical evidence that a genuine experimental design is likely to mitigate the effects found in a tradition of quasi-experimental designs. These results are valuable for the SI-PASS community, where randomized trials are still scarce, and for higher education institutions seeking evidence-based assistance.

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SI-PASS 对高风险课程的影响--随机对照试验

背景SI-PASS是一项结构化的学术支持计划，它聘用成绩优秀的后进生，为高风险课程（特别是ULiège的心理学统计）提供同伴学习课程。研究内容如下本研究比较了实验条件下和对照条件下一年级学生的学业成绩和社会情感变量。方法采用分层随机分配法进行随机对照试验，在第一学期将参与者分配到是否参加 SI-PASS 计划。结果研究的第一步显示，除非考虑出勤率，否则两组学生在学习成绩上没有差异；也没有发现对社会情感变量有任何显著影响。第二步是比较实验组和选择不自愿参加 SI-PASS 的学生组，结果有利于 SI-PASS 的学生的学习成绩有了显著提高。结论这项研究得出了有利于该计划的显著结果，但只有在考虑到出勤率的情况下才会如此，从而提供了经验证据，证明真正的实验设计有可能减轻传统的准实验设计所产生的影响。这些结果对于随机试验仍然稀缺的 SI-PASS 社区和寻求循证援助的高等教育机构都很有价值。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Learning and Instruction Multiple-

CiteScore

11.30

自引率

4.80%

发文量

109

期刊介绍： As an international, multi-disciplinary, peer-refereed journal, Learning and Instruction provides a platform for the publication of the most advanced scientific research in the areas of learning, development, instruction and teaching. The journal welcomes original empirical investigations. The papers may represent a variety of theoretical perspectives and different methodological approaches. They may refer to any age level, from infants to adults and to a diversity of learning and instructional settings, from laboratory experiments to field studies. The major criteria in the review and the selection process concern the significance of the contribution to the area of learning and instruction, and the rigor of the study.