Improving Non-Academic Student Outcomes Using Online and Text-Message Coaching

54 Pages Posted: 17 Sep 2018 Last revised: 16 Apr 2023

See all articles by Philip Oreopoulos

Philip Oreopoulos

University of Toronto - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR)

Uros Petronijevic

New York University (NYU) - Department of Economics

Christine Logel

University of Waterloo - Renison University College

Graham Beattie

University of Pittsburgh

Date Written: September 2018

Abstract

We design and experimentally evaluate two low-cost, scalable interventions – an online preparatory module and a text-message coaching program – in a sample of over 3,000 undergraduate students at a large Canadian university. Supplementing administrative data on academic outcomes with a unique follow-up survey on student well-being and study habits, we estimate positive program effects on students’ non-academic outcomes, despite estimating null effects on course grades and credit accumulation. Given the low costs associated with administering these programs, our results suggest that the positive impacts on student experiences may warrant program expansion even in the absence of impacts on academic outcomes.

Suggested Citation

Oreopoulos, Philip and Petronijevic, Uros and Logel, Christine and Beattie, Graham, Improving Non-Academic Student Outcomes Using Online and Text-Message Coaching (September 2018). NBER Working Paper No. w24992, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3246814

Philip Oreopoulos (Contact Author)

University of Toronto - Department of Economics ( email )

150 St. George Street
Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G7
Canada

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR)

180 Dundas Street West, Suite 1400
Toronto, Ontario
Canada

Uros Petronijevic

New York University (NYU) - Department of Economics ( email )

19 West 4th Street
New York, NY 10012
United States

Christine Logel

University of Waterloo - Renison University College ( email )

Ontario, N2L 3G1
Canada

Graham Beattie

University of Pittsburgh ( email )

135 N Bellefield Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
United States

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