Seminar in Public Economics - Can Peer Mentoring Improve Online Teaching Effectiveness? An RCT During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Time
Thursday, 6. May 2021
12:00 - 13:15
Location
online
Organizer
Chair of Political Economy
Speaker:
Markus Nagler (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg)
Can Peer Mentoring Improve Online Teaching Effectiveness? An RCT During the COVID-19 Pandemic
(with David Hardt and Johannes Rincke)
Abstract: Online delivery of higher education has taken center stage but is fraught with issues of student self-organization. We conducted an RCT to study the effects of remote peer mentoring at a German university that switched to online teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mentors and mentees met one-on-one online and discussed topics like self-organization and study techniques. We find positive impacts on motivation, studying behavior, and exam registrations. The intervention did not shift earned credits on average, but we demonstrate strong positive effects on the most able students. In contrast to prior research, effects were more pronounced for male students.