Nudges in Education: What Works?
Melbourne Institute Policy Brief No. 02/16
Date: 2016
Author(s):
Abstract
Many Australian students face psychological hurdles in realising their educational potential and maximizing the value of their education. This Policy Brief explores which behavioural interventions, or nudges, have been used internationally to substantively improve students' educational outcomes, and therefore social and financial prospects, at minimal cost. Rigorous, evidence-based analysis, in the form of randomised controlled trials, is called for to test which nudges would be most effective in the Australian educational context. Specifically, the authors call for trialling of inexpensive but effective interventions and full-scale randomized implementation of the most robustly positive interventions.