Early Intervention of Undergraduate Tutorial System and Improvement of Students' Performance: An Empirical Study based on Nudges Theory

Abstract

Based on the undergraduate tutorial system which has been implemented for many years, the effect of early teaching intervention in microeconomics course in colleges and universities is studied. At the end of first six weeks of the second semester, if freshman' scores below the threshold (70), he or she will be referred to the tutor for additional tutoring, including selective help in course content, as well as training in time management and learning skills. In the study, Regression discontinuity design (RDD) method was used to find that early intervention improved students' scores on common problems in final exam by 5.1% to 8.9%. Students with lower than average math scores in the college entrance examination, especially girls, the effect is more obvious. The results show that low-cost early mild intervention may significantly affect students' academic performance.