Tailor-made financial education

Tailor-made financial education

Text: Kaat Iterbeke and Kristof De Witte

 In a recent article, published in Computers in Human Behavior, we test the effects of computer-assisted adaptive instruction and elaborated feedback on learning outcomes. Despite the growing initiatives dealing with low financial literacy levels among the young, large heterogeneity in the levels is observed. Given the heterogeneity, one may question the effectiveness of one-size-fits-all approaches in financial education. In line with the widely-held belief that differentiation practices can address the needs of all individuals, a differentiated approach in financial education may be more effective.

Study in Flemish  schools

We examine whether tailoring a financial education program to the needs of students enhances learning outcomes. In particular, using a computer-based learning environment, we study the effects of adaptive instruction and elaborated feedback in the program. For this purpose, we set up a randomized control trial in the eighth and ninth grades of Flemish secondary education involving 1177 students in 94 classes in 32 schools.

The computer-assisted program was offered as four lectures of 50 minutes in the form of an interactive learning path that students had to complete in ability groups in the classroom. The learning material focused on the topics of saving and investing. Via a random assignment of schools to conditions, we evaluate the average effect of the program on multiple financial outcomes and explore the learning gains associated with adaptive instruction compared to one-size-fits-all instruction and the learning gains associated with adaptive instruction combined with elaborated feedback compared to simple verification feedback.[1]

   

Main findings of the  study

The findings of our study show that the financial knowledge of students, on average, increases by almost half of a standard deviation after the program. We do not find significant changes in students’ financial behavior. Despite the promise of adaptive practices to address students’ needs, we observe no additional learning gains associated with adaptive instruction and elaborated feedback. The performance of girls even appears to decrease when adaptive instruction is offered. Moreover, since the adaptive practices negatively influence the motivational state of students, it is likely that students perceive the practices as burdensome, thereby rendering them useless.

Our study contributes to the literature by showing that the benefits of adaptive practices are likely much smaller than those claimed by policymakers and researchers.

          [1] Verification feedback is defined as a simple judgment of whether an  answer is correct, whereas elaborated feedback provides additional information  on the (in)correctness of the answer and relevant cues to guide the student  towards the correct answer (Shute, 2008).