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

[en] 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.

Disciplines :

Education & instruction

Author, co-author :

Puttaert, Ninon

Dachet, Dylan ; Université de Mons - UMONS > Ecole de Formation des Enseignants > Service Pédagogie et méthodologie de l’enseignement

Baye, Ariane

Quertemont, Etienne

Leduc, Laurent

Nyssen, Anne-Sophie

Verpoorten, Dominique

Language :

English

Title :

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

Publication date :

February 2025

Journal title :

Learning and Instruction

ISSN :

0959-4752

Publisher :

Elsevier BV

Volume :

Pages :

102042

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Additional URL :

https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0959475224001695?httpAccept=text/xml

Available on ORBi UMONS :

since 04 November 2024

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