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HOW DOES PEER PRESSURE AFFECT EDUCATIONAL INVESTMENTS?

ABSTRACT: When effort is observable to peers, students may try to avoid social penalties by conforming to prevailing norms. To test this hypothesis, we first consider a natural experiment that introduced a performance leaderboard into computer-based high school courses. The result was a 24 percent performance decline. The decline appears to be driven by a desire to avoid the leaderboard; top performing students prior to the change, those most at risk of appearing on the leaderboard, had a 40 percent performance decline, while poor performing students improved slightly. We next consider a field experiment that offered students complimentary access to an online SAT preparatory course. Sign-up forms differed randomly across students only in whether they said the decision would be kept private from classmates. In nonhonors classes, sign-up was 11 percentage points lower when decisions were public rather than private. Honors class sign-up was unaffected. For students taking honors and nonhonors classes, the response depended on which peers they were with at the time of the offer, and thus to whom their decision would be revealed. When offered the course in a nonhonors class (where peer sign-up rates are low), they were 15 percentage points less likely to sign up if the decision was public. But when offered the course in an honors class (where peer sign-up rates are high), they were 8 percentage points more likely to sign up if the decision was public. Thus, students are highly responsive to their peers are the prevailing norm when they make decisions.

SUBMITTER: Bursztyn L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4698889 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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HOW DOES PEER PRESSURE AFFECT EDUCATIONAL INVESTMENTS?

Bursztyn Leonardo L Jensen Robert R

The quarterly journal of economics 20150101 3

When effort is observable to peers, students may try to avoid social penalties by conforming to prevailing norms. To test this hypothesis, we first consider a natural experiment that introduced a performance leaderboard into computer-based high school courses. The result was a 24 percent performance decline. The decline appears to be driven by a desire to avoid the leaderboard; top performing students prior to the change, those most at risk of appearing on the leaderboard, had a 40 percent perfo ...[more]

PMID: 26740727

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Project description:ContextAnticoagulant options for the management of venous thromboembolism (VTE) now include the non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs). The safe and effective integration of these agents into routine clinical practice within different health care settings presents common challenges. Bayer AG created the INternational Network fOr Venous and Arterial Thrombosis Excellence in practice (INNOVATE) program as a professional education network to foster best practice in thrombosis management in the NOAC era.Concept and formatSince 2013, INNOVATE has been run as a series of educational 1.5-day global meetings at VTE centers of excellence. The format is based on expert-led discussion rather than lectures; all participants are encouraged to share their own expertise and experience. Through peer-to-peer exchange, less experienced professionals from an array of specialties learn from others in a small-group interactive setting. This format encourages positive engagement and discussion, and the establishment of relationships between health care professionals from different countries.Expansion and localizationINNOVATE has successfully expanded to cover a broad spectrum of thromboembolic disorders in which anticoagulation with NOACs plays an important role; now including specific meetings focusing on the management of patients in the community. Local meetings are run in many countries in the local language, facilitating discussion and ensuring applicability to local or regional issues.Implementing learningsINNOVATE delegates have provided consistently positive feedback and have used their attendance to create and improve thrombosis management pathways in their own institutions. Overseen by a Steering Committee, the program responds to feedback, evolving to meet the needs of participants.ConclusionBy showcasing best practice in the care of patients requiring anticoagulation, INNOVATE provides a model for the non-promotional support of medical education by industry. The objectives are to encourage the responsible use of new drugs (specifically NOACs) and their integration into existing and new care pathways and to ensure that every patient receives the benefit of evidence-based clinical practice.

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HOW DOES PEER PRESSURE AFFECT EDUCATIONAL INVESTMENTS?

Publications

HOW DOES PEER PRESSURE AFFECT EDUCATIONAL INVESTMENTS?

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