How Might Behavioral Science Transform Education?
Introduction
Jayden Rae and Marielle Montenegro, two of our senior consultants at The Decision Lab, tell Nathan Collett about their work tackling some of the biggest challenges in education reform. Some of the topics discussed include:
- Low-cost, easily scalable solutions in education
- Effective interventions in higher education, specifically surrounding retention rates for low-income students
- High-impact interventions using behavioral science
- Bad behavioral science
- The value of “reform” vs working within the system
- The various powers that clash over which textbooks make their way into the classroom
- Online learning: pitfalls and opportunities
Discussion: Education x Behavioral Science
Nathan: To start off, could you tell me a little bit about where education is currently at with respect to behavioral science?
Marielle: Behavioural science applied to education is lagging behind in comparison to other industries like finance and insurance. This is likely attributable to the fact that these are for-profit industries, which are focused on efficiency and a bottom line, whereas education is mostly public—so they're not really focused on the ROI as much.
Marielle: We're only now starting to see the impact of potentially applying behavioral science and an understanding of how people make decisions into the education journey in the United States. Right now, education is not necessarily what people think about when they think about behavioral science. The typical nudges that have been applied successfully in the past have been in tax collection or in the health space but education is still kind of a new field being linked to behavioral science. We're only now starting to see the impact of potentially applying behavioral science to better understand how stakeholders in the education ecosystem (students, educators, policy makers, school administrators) make decisions along different points in their journey.
Nathan: So what are some areas where it has been applied in effective ways?
Jayden: There are interventions used in education that have attracted the interest of behavioral science, because more typical structural adjustments or measures haven't been as successful. One issue is called the summertime melt, which is essentially in the summer after first year, a large percentage of students drop out of school. Some interventions have been focused around supporting students throughout the process using behavioral science techniques to ensure that dropout rates are not as high as they might be otherwise.
Jayden: Another successful intervention in higher education has been increasing access to financial aid, by using nudges to increase students’ access to federal loans. Getting federal loans, for example, is a very bureaucratic process, with a lot of steps. There's essentially a lot of friction in accessing them, which, even if it is not by design, is not absolutely necessary. By creating nudges and integrating behavioral science into messaging, loans have become more accessible, particularly to vulnerable student populations.
Marielle: Yes, so although the application of behavioral science to education is still in the early stages, we've really been able to see through these examples that behavioral science provides an opportunity to apply low cost and scalable interventions. These opportunities can be used to promote equity, because it allows a wider diversity of students to access high quality education. This will ultimately improve student outcomes and success down the line, which we hope will help us progress towards a more equitable society.
About the Authors
Jayden Rae
Jayden has a particular interest in studying how public policy can be used as a tool to help individuals and organizations make decisions to protect the environment. She has previously worked in the domain of environmental policy at the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. She is a founding director of the environmental non-profit Climatable, which focuses on engaging Canadians in climate change action. Jayden received her bachelor’s degree from McGill University in environment and political science.
Marielle Montenegro
Marielle Montenegro has a background in behavioural neuroscience from McGill University. Her prior experience ranges from projects in behavioural finance to health, where she was responsible for designing programs that unlocked barriers to medication adherence, curating behaviourally guided content for financial planners and informing policy to improve access to and perceptions of mental health services in University. Prior to working at The Decision Lab, she was based in Johannesburg working as a Behavioural Policy Analyst, where she designed impact measurement framework to assess the effectiveness of telecommunication policies on access to communications in rural communicates.
Nathan Collett
Nathan Collett studies decision-making and philosophy at McGill University. Experiences that inform his interdisciplinary mindset include a fellowship in the Research Group on Constitutional Studies, research at the Montreal Neurological Institute, a Harvard University architecture program, a fascination with modern physics, and several years as a technical director, program coordinator, and counselor at a youth-run summer camp on Gabriola Island. An upcoming academic project will focus on the political and philosophical consequences of emerging findings in behavioral science. He grew up in British Columbia, spending roughly equal time reading and exploring the outdoors, which ensured a lasting appreciation for nature. He prioritizes creativity, inclusion, sustainability, and integrity in all of his work.
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I was blown away with their application and translation of behavioral science into practice. They took a very complex ecosystem and created a series of interventions using an innovative mix of the latest research and creative client co-creation. I was so impressed at the final product they created, which was hugely comprehensive despite the large scope of the client being of the world's most far-reaching and best known consumer brands. I'm excited to see what we can create together in the future.
Heather McKee
BEHAVIORAL SCIENTIST
GLOBAL COFFEEHOUSE CHAIN PROJECT
OUR CLIENT SUCCESS
$0M
Annual Revenue Increase
By launching a behavioral science practice at the core of the organization, we helped one of the largest insurers in North America realize $30M increase in annual revenue.
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Increase in Monthly Users
By redesigning North America's first national digital platform for mental health, we achieved a 52% lift in monthly users and an 83% improvement on clinical assessment.
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Reduction In Design Time
By designing a new process and getting buy-in from the C-Suite team, we helped one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in the world reduce software design time by 75%.
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Reduction in Client Drop-Off
By implementing targeted nudges based on proactive interventions, we reduced drop-off rates for 450,000 clients belonging to USA's oldest debt consolidation organizations by 46%
