Active Learning Methods and Life-skills Education
Conditions
Keywords
teaching, education, active learning, time on task, financial education, social education, rights based education, primary school, life-skills
Brief summary
The study uses experimental methods to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention in Rwanda. The intervention, designed by Aflatoun and AMIR, involves training teachers on the use of active-learning methods to implement a social and financial education curriculum with students in primary and secondary schools. Teachers then implement the social and financial curriculum with students in order to improve their personal, social, and financial competencies. Teacher training will take place in November-December 2013 and the curriculum implementation will be evaluated in the 2014 school year. The study will examine the following hypotheses: 1. Did teachers use of active learning methods in class increase due to the training received? 2. Did students' levels of engagement and on-task behaviour increase as a result of the intervention's pedagogy and content? 3. Did the following competencies of students improve due to the intervention? 1. Self-efficacy 2. Social skills 3. Financial literacy 4. Planning attitudes 5. Savings attitudes 6. Savings behavior 7. Entrepreneurship 4. Did the intervention change student's pass rates on the primary six (P6) and secondary three (S3) final examinations for the classes in which it was implemented? 5. Did the intervention change student drop out rates in the classes which it was implemented?
Interventions
BEHAVIORALChild centered teaching of life-skills
The intervention includes five core components: (1) personal understanding and exploration, (2) rights and responsibilities, (3) savings and spending, (4) planning and budgeting, and (5) social and financial enterprise. The training and curriculum are both manualized. The curriculum is in English and is regionally specific (for Anglophone Africa) and has been contextualized for Rwanda. The minimum hours required by Aflatoun's fidelity guide is 20 hours which includes 10 hours of curriculum lesson and 10 hours of learning activities (savings groups, social and financial projects, club activities etc).
Sponsors
Association of Microfinance Institutions in Rwanda
Stichting Child Savings International
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Schools willing to participate in the intervention. * Classes of students in grade P6 or S3 during academic year 2014 * Teachers of entrepreneurship, social studies, or mathematics
Exclusion criteria
* Non-consenting individuals
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in Student engagement (Student report) | Up to 8 months | A composite, standardized variable combining 4-items measured using structured interviews of 7 randomly selected students in each teacher's classroom. |
| Change in Teacher Use of Active Learning Methods (Self-reported) | Up to 8 months | A composite, standardized variable combining 7-items from a self-reported instrument capturing the confidence of teachers using these seven specified active learning methods. |
| Change in Classroom Level of Student Engagement (Observed) | Up to 12 months | A composite, standardized variable combining structured observations of 7 randomly selected students for three different 10-second intervals in each teacher's classroom using an adapted version of the PreQuip tool designed by Educans at the University of Amsterdam. |
| Change in Teacher Use of Active Learning Methods (Student report) | Up to 8 months | A composite, standardized variable combining 4-items from students' structured interviews about their teacher's use of active learning methods. |
| Change in Teacher Use of Active Learning Methods (Observed) | Up to 12 months | A composite, standardized variable combining 5-items from an observational instrument filled out by enumerators observing teachers' classes. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in Students' Savings Attitudes | Up to 8 months | A composite, standardized variable combining 4-items from student structured interviews about their savings attitudes. |
| Change in Students' Entrepreneurship Attitudes & Behavior | Up to 8 months | A composite, standardized variable combining 4-items from student structured interviews about their entrepreneurship attitudes and behavior. |
| Change in Students' Savings Behavior | Up to 8 months | A composite, standardized variable combining 5-items from student structured interviews about their savings behavior. |
| Change in Students' Generalized Self-efficacy Scale (GSES-10) | Up to 8 months | A composite, standardized variable generated based on the average sum scores of students on the GSES-10. The original four answer choice format has been changed to a five option format of (strongly disagree, disagree, neither disagree nor agree, agree and strongly agree). |
| Change in Students' Pro-Social (PS) (6-item) and Conduct Disorder (CD) (6-item) subscales of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) | Up to 8 months | A composite, standardized variable generated based on the average sum scores of students on the SDQ-CD and SDQ-PS. The original four answer choice format has been changed to a five option format of (strongly disagree, disagree, neither disagree nor agree, agree and strongly agree). |
| Change in Students' Financial Literacy | Up to 8 months | A composite, standardized variable combining 4-items from student structured interviews about their financial competencies. |
| Change in Students' Planning Attitudes | Up to 8 months | A composite, standardized variable combining 5-items from student structured interviews about their planning attitudes. |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Difference in standardized examination pass rates on primary 6 (P6) and secondary 3 (S3) tests in study classes | December 2014 | Comparing the standardized test passing rates of the control and experimental group after the end of the first year of the program. |
| Change in Student Engagement (Observed) mediates Students' change in Savings Behavior | Up to 12 months | A mediation analysis to determine if increases in students' observed engagement mediates an increase in their savings behavior. |
| Change in Teachers use of Active Learning Methods (Observed) mediates Student Engagement (Observed) | Up to 12 months | A mediation analysis to determine if increases in teachers use of active learning methods mediates an increase in student engagement in class. |
| Difference in percentage drop out rates of students in study classes | December 2014 | Comparing the drop out rate of students in classes in the control and experimental group after the end of the first year of the program. |
Countries
Rwanda
Outcome results
None listed