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Online or on-campus? Analysing the effects of financial education on student knowledge gain

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  • Agasisti, Tommaso
  • Barucci, Emilio
  • Cannistrà, Marta
  • Marazzina, Daniele
  • Soncin, Mara

Abstract

This paper describes the results of an experiment conducted in a technical university in Italy in 2019, involving the implementation and evaluation of an innovative short course on financial education. The programme applied a novel approach based on online learning and its effectiveness is compared against the effects of a traditional on-campus lecture, within an experimental setting. The findings indicate that the programme is effective: one week after taking the course, the students improved their pre-course test scores by about 4 points out of 10. No statistically significant difference in gains is found between students assigned to the online vs the on-campus mode of learning, suggesting a potential positive role of digital learning in this specific setting. An exploratory analysis of factors associated with the outcome reveal that the course has been particularly beneficial for those students initially less interested in finance.

Suggested Citation

  • Agasisti, Tommaso & Barucci, Emilio & Cannistrà, Marta & Marazzina, Daniele & Soncin, Mara, 2023. "Online or on-campus? Analysing the effects of financial education on student knowledge gain," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:epplan:v:98:y:2023:i:c:s0149718923000502
    DOI: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2023.102273
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    Cited by:

    1. Luis Oberrauch & Tim Kaiser, 2024. "Financial Education or Incentivizing Learning-by-Doing? Evidence from an RCT with Undergraduate Students," CESifo Working Paper Series 11187, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial education; Experimental evaluation; Financial literacy; Online learning in Higher Education; Massive Open Online Course (MOOC);
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G53 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Financial Literacy
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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