Early Stage Projects

Overview

The below EENE projects are in what we call the Idea Phase where teams identify a gap in the education literature and define the key elements of a project that addresses the open question(s).

Optimizing Student AI Use with Incentives

AI has incredible potential for increasing student learning, and many students already benefit from 24/7 AI tutors, instant feedback on their work, and unlimited practice questions. At the same time, students also often short-cut their learning by having AI draft papers, complete problem sets, and even take online quizzes and tests for them. Instead of telling students what they can and cannot do through unenforcible rules that only increase student anxiety, we experiment with different AI policies to incentivize learning and productive use of AI. Specifically, we look at reducing the weight of homework in course grades, giving frequent in-class quizzes based on content in homework, and increasing the weight of proctored pencil-and-paper exams.

Interested in learning more or helping develop this project? Contact Dan Savelle.

Math Support with Interactive Online Videos

Math skills are critical to success in economics, but many students enter their courses with serious gaps in their math preparation. Does knowledge about the level of their own math skills and faculty nudges to use standardized online video resources improve student course performance, attitudes and/or desire to take more economics? This study aims to use an experimental design to answer this important question.

Interested in learning more or helping develop this project? Contact George Orlov.

Two-Stage Exams

The two-stage exam is a low friction active learning strategy that aims to reinforce and scaffold learning within a group setting while mitigating the free rider aspects of group work. This project will evaluate whether a two-stage exam format improves retention of class content compared to a traditional individual exam format using a randomized within-course crossover design.

Interested in learning more or helping develop this project? Contact Kate Silz Carson.