Set up a comparative study's Design tab, then run the study. For example, half of a Grade 4 math class gets an AI tutor and half doesn't.
The design
Design starts with What this study compares, then four steps that apply to every course at once.
- The activities. Edit them with the course's own editor. Pre-tests, post-tests and surveys are the same for everyone.
- What differs. Give each condition rules: the AI off, the AI sees nothing of the panels, typed only, replies not read aloud, or another agent.
- Who gets which, and when. Choose who is assigned, how, how it is balanced, and when.
- Agent versions. Opening the study pins each agent at its published version.
A new activity starts hidden at every course until its teachers open it.
Conditions as rules
A study has two to eight conditions, labelled A to H, each with a share from 1 to 10. Only in some units or activities adds exceptions, including Hidden for this condition. Check Side by side: what learners get in each condition before you open.
When comparing units, The plan, unit by unit (or The orders) says whether each unit keeps its AI, has none, or uses another agent.
Assignment
- Who is assigned: Each person or Each section.
- How: At random, in shuffled blocks balanced by the shares, or for sections, By you.
- Balanced: Across the study, Within each section or Within each course.
- When: When they take part, After the pre-test, or At first use (not when comparing units).
A condition never changes once given, on any activity or device.
Pinned and protocol versions
Learners keep meeting the pinned agent version as the agent changes. Use the latest published versions moves every course on. Once open, every design change and version move makes a new protocol version, shown in the study's header.
Open, pause and close
The header's status control runs Draft → Open ⇄ Paused → Closed. Each move explains itself first.
| Move | What it does |
|---|---|
| Open study | People start taking part; assignment starts; agent versions are pinned. |
| Pause | Learners keep their condition. Nobody new joins the study, and nothing is recorded for it. |
| Resume | Takes people in and records again. |
| Close study | Conditions stop; courses return to their own settings; the data stays. |
| Open again | Reopens with the same conditions and pinned versions. |
Delete draft works only if the study never opened.
Warning
Once open, how people take part, sign-in, assignment and conditions (except their names) are fixed. First preview each condition from a course's Share → Preview as a learner, In condition.
Participants
Participants shows Flow, as a CONSORT diagram counts it; Balance on the pre-test, as Hedges' g; People, each learner code with decision and condition; and The study's record of every decision, assignment and change.
- Consent and taking part: withdrawal and paper forms.
- The research export: conditions and versions in your data.