The Behavioral Education in Social Media (BE-Social) Program for Postgraduate Academic Achievement: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

AbstractFew randomized controlled trials have evaluated social media study groups as educational aids in the context of online and blended teaching programs. We present the Behavioral Education in Social Media (BE-Social) intervention package, which integrates key evidence-informed behavioral intervention strategies delivered through a closed social media study group. BE-Social combines instructor-mediated cooperative learning and self-management training via multimedia posts and video modeling. Forty-six students were randomly assigned to a default online program (control) group or default online program plus BE-Social (intervention) group. Intervention outcomes included academic performance and social media engagement (reactions, comments). A mixed-effect ANOVA showed that individuals in the BE-Social group attained higher academic performance, F (1, 46) = 18.37, p < .001, η2 = .34). On average, the intervention produced a 20-point increase in academic performance over a 100-point scale and significant increases in social media engagement. A parallel single-subject analysis revealed that intervention gains were not always consistent across participants. Findings are consistent with the view that social media platforms provide a prosthetic social milieu that can enrich traditional education by maximizing social rewards through increased interaction opportunities and timely positive feedback. We propose the digital environment reward optimization hypothesis to denote these processes.