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Can Nudging Mentors Weaken Student Support? Experimental Evidence from a Virtual Communication Intervention.

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Title: Can Nudging Mentors Weaken Student Support? Experimental Evidence from a Virtual Communication Intervention.
Authors: Brockman, Stacey L.1 (AUTHOR) sbrockman@mathematica-mpr.com
Source: Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness. Apr-Jun2024, Vol. 17 Issue 2, p226-258. 33p.
Subject Terms: *Mentors, *School year, Virtual communications, Mentoring, Virtual design
Abstract: This paper presents results from an experimental evaluation of an intervention designed to enhance virtual student support. During the 2019–2020 school year, randomly selected mentors in a school-based mentoring program received monthly reminders with tips for communicating with youth via text, email, and phone. Unexpectedly, the results showed that although the nudges did not impact the frequency of mentor outreach (student-reported), they reduced the rate at which students reached out (mentor-reported) and saw themselves as responsive to their mentors. Moreover, and possibly as a consequence, mentors who received the intervention felt less connected to students and less satisfied with their mentoring relationships, and treated students gained less than comparison students from the mentoring program as a whole in terms of their personal and attitudinal growth. The findings add important nuance to the evidence on how behavioral interventions in educational contexts operate. Although past studies find that nudges can support engagement in discrete tasks, these findings suggest that prescribing relational practices may be less effective. Thus, mentor supports must be carefully designed in order to yield the intended benefits for students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Data: Can Nudging Mentors Weaken Student Support? Experimental Evidence from a Virtual Communication Intervention.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Research+on+Educational+Effectiveness%22">Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness</searchLink>. Apr-Jun2024, Vol. 17 Issue 2, p226-258. 33p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mentors%22">Mentors</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22School+year%22">School year</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Virtual+communications%22">Virtual communications</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mentoring%22">Mentoring</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Virtual+design%22">Virtual design</searchLink>
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  Data: This paper presents results from an experimental evaluation of an intervention designed to enhance virtual student support. During the 2019–2020 school year, randomly selected mentors in a school-based mentoring program received monthly reminders with tips for communicating with youth via text, email, and phone. Unexpectedly, the results showed that although the nudges did not impact the frequency of mentor outreach (student-reported), they reduced the rate at which students reached out (mentor-reported) and saw themselves as responsive to their mentors. Moreover, and possibly as a consequence, mentors who received the intervention felt less connected to students and less satisfied with their mentoring relationships, and treated students gained less than comparison students from the mentoring program as a whole in terms of their personal and attitudinal growth. The findings add important nuance to the evidence on how behavioral interventions in educational contexts operate. Although past studies find that nudges can support engagement in discrete tasks, these findings suggest that prescribing relational practices may be less effective. Thus, mentor supports must be carefully designed in order to yield the intended benefits for students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1080/19345747.2023.2186291
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        Text: English
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      – SubjectFull: Mentors
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: School year
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      – SubjectFull: Virtual communications
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              Text: Apr-Jun2024
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