Conditions Under Which College Students Can Be Responsive to Text-Based Nudging.
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| Title: | Conditions Under Which College Students Can Be Responsive to Text-Based Nudging. |
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| Authors: | Page, Lindsay C.1 (AUTHOR) lindsay_page@brown.edu, Meyer, Katharine2 (AUTHOR), Lee, Jeonghyun3 (AUTHOR), Gehlbach, Hunter4 (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness. Apr-Jun2026, Vol. 19 Issue 2, p298-326. 29p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Institutional environment, *College students, *Student engagement, *School enrollment, Chatbots, Financial aid |
| Abstract: | College success requires students to engage with their institution academically and administratively. Missteps with administrative processes can threaten student persistence and success. Through two experimental studies, one exploratory (N = 13,657) and one pre-registered and confirmatory (N = 11,561), we assessed the effectiveness of an artificially intelligent, text-based chatbot that proactively reached out to students to support the navigation of administrative processes and use of campus resources. Across two-year and four-year college contexts, outreach was most effective when focused on discrete administrative processes–such as filing financial aid forms and managing registration holds–which were acute and time-sensitive and for which outreach could be targeted to those for whom it was relevant. We situate these experiments in the context of similar efforts targeting college students to formulate testable hypotheses about their effective use for promoting college success. Specifically, we hypothesize that proactive outreach will be most effective when: (1) framed as from a trusted source with whom students would expect to communicate; (2) targeted using data to ensure that communication is relevant to students' personal circumstances; and (3) focused on well-defined, required, and often acute tasks. [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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| Abstract: | College success requires students to engage with their institution academically and administratively. Missteps with administrative processes can threaten student persistence and success. Through two experimental studies, one exploratory (N = 13,657) and one pre-registered and confirmatory (N = 11,561), we assessed the effectiveness of an artificially intelligent, text-based chatbot that proactively reached out to students to support the navigation of administrative processes and use of campus resources. Across two-year and four-year college contexts, outreach was most effective when focused on discrete administrative processes–such as filing financial aid forms and managing registration holds–which were acute and time-sensitive and for which outreach could be targeted to those for whom it was relevant. We situate these experiments in the context of similar efforts targeting college students to formulate testable hypotheses about their effective use for promoting college success. Specifically, we hypothesize that proactive outreach will be most effective when: (1) framed as from a trusted source with whom students would expect to communicate; (2) targeted using data to ensure that communication is relevant to students' personal circumstances; and (3) focused on well-defined, required, and often acute tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 19345747 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/19345747.2025.2481219 |
