A Summer RCT Training Institute for Established Researchers

Project: Research project

Project Details

Description

The purpose of this researcher training program is to increase the number of researchers with the training in the planning, design, execution, and interpretation of randomized trials in education sciences necessary to carry out trials and increase the number who actually carry out randomized trials in education. By focusing on practicing researchers, it is designed to compliment other IES training activities focusing on pre- and postdoctoral fellows. The proposed mechanism is a two week residential summer training Institute to be held at Northwestern University. This Institute is intended for researchers with some background in statistics and computing, who are interested in developing skills in randomized trials, and who employed in setting that might conduct randomized trials. The institute is intensive and demanding, involving 8 hour of participation on each of 9 days, which includes 22 units of group instruction and an additional 13 units of group project work. Typically there are three units of in-class instruction each day, followed by one unit of group work. The in-class sessions are designed to provide an overview of aspects of the design, planning, analysis, and interpretation of randomized trials in education. Each unit focuses on a particular topic, and the topics build on one another throughout the workshop. The in-class units are a combination of lecture, discussion, and in class exercises. Each unit is linked to references covering the same material to provide alternative presentations and additional reading. Some of the material covered is familiar to participants, but the fact that the material is all focused on application to randomized trials is novel for essentially all of the participants. For example, many participants have some familiarity with multilevel models, but few of them have familiarity with applications to randomized trials, particularly applications to unbalanced randomized block designs or three level experiments.
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date9/1/138/31/17

Funding

  • Institute of Education Sciences (R305B130023)

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