Showing papers in "Journal of Economic Education in 2000"
TL;DR: Inverting the Classroom: A Gateway to Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment as discussed by the authors is a gateway to creating an inclusive learning environment, which is also related to our work.
Abstract: (2000). Inverting the Classroom: A Gateway to Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment. The Journal of Economic Education: Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 30-43.
2,205 citations
TL;DR: One of the cornerstones of the principles of microeconomics course is its Web site, which is one of the main components of "The Inverted Classroom", in which lectures take place outside of class and class time is devoted to group and individual problem solving, discussion, and experiments.
Abstract: (2000). The Internet and the Inverted Classroom. The Journal of Economic Education: Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 11-11.
146 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe and evaluate a package of measures designed to introduce a collaborative, problem-solving (CPS) approach to learning into the tutorials of a second-year university macroeconomics subject.
Abstract: In this article, we describe and evaluate a package of measures designed to introduce a collaborative, problem-solving (CPS) approach to learning into the tutorials of a second-year university macroeconomics subject. These findings are derived from a comparison of a trial group of 311 students and a control group of 301 students, each drawn randomly from students enrolled in a single subject, at a single institution, the University of Melbourne. To learn economics successfully, students need to have ability in both abstract thinking and in application. They also need to be able to express complex ideas logically and fluently. The development of these diverse aspects of thinking is challenging for students in their early undergraduate years and may be one reason why students often view economics as a difficult subject. The 1995 CPS project was a pilot for a wider departmental initiative designed to enhance the role of tutorials (one-hour classes of about 20 students led by a tutor) in the teaching and learning process. The project embodied two major components: problem-based learning and collaborative learning. Both these components were thought to be potentially valuable for undergraduate students
142 citations
TL;DR: This article found that personality type plays an important role in a student's understanding of economics, as measured by standard measures of student performance, and that faculty personality type is also important in determining the way in which economic concepts are presented.
Abstract: Understanding economics is a process of gathering information, making sense of information, building conceptual models, and using these models to evaluate and analyze different situations and alternatives. Jungian psychological theory suggests that different personality temperaments prefer to receive and process information differently. My hypothesis is that personality type plays an important role in a student's understanding of economics, as measured by standard measures of student performance. More precisely, given the more analytical nature of economics, some personality types may succeed in economics more readily than do others. Furthermore, faculty personality type is also important in determining the way in which economic concepts are presented. Thus if students and faculty have the same personality type, they are more likely to receive and process information in a similar fashion, which may lead to increased performance in economics courses. Understanding the ways in which different personality temperaments gather and process information can lead to more effective pedagogies that will benefit all economics students. Borg and Shapiro (1996) found that student personality type is an important determinant of student performance in economics. In this article, I improve and extend their work in two important ways. I replicate Borg and Shapiro's analysis with a larger sample of students and a larger, more diverse group of faculty. I also
131 citations
TL;DR: In this article, attributes of effective economics instructors: An Analysis of Student Evaluations is presented, with an emphasis on the role of the teacher in the evaluation process of student evaluations.
Abstract: (2000). Attributes of Effective Economics Instructors: An Analysis of Student Evaluations. The Journal of Economic Education: Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 211-227.
88 citations
TL;DR: The use of music in the teaching of economics has been examined in this article, showing that it has long-term positive effects on cognitive abilities and that music can stimulate thought processes and enhance spatial reasoning.
Abstract: In an attempt to make the learning of economics more interesting and memorable, economic educators have used a variety of materials to convey economic knowledge. This material includes novels and other forms of literature, the popular press, motion pictures and videos, computer simulations, board games, experiments, the Internet, and other nontraditional vehicles (Becker and Watts 1998, 1995). Two noteworthy interdisciplinary efforts include Watts and Smith's (1989) use of literature and drama to teach economics and, more recently, KishGoodling's (1998) success using Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice as a vehicle to develop the economic concepts of interest, investment, loan defaults, and usury laws in her monetary economics course. Little if anything has been written about the use of music in the teaching of economics. Few economists have actually attempted to harness the power of music to support their teaching because (we suspect) its use as a pedagogical tool has, up to this point, not been carefully examined.' Although there is little evidence of the use of music in the teaching of economics, music certainly is an important influence in the life of young people. The advent of the internet is likely to contribute to this interest as music companies devise new ways to induce customers into listening to and buying music via the internet (Bayne 1998). "Radio is a medium ... that becomes increasingly important to young listeners as they grow older, particularly for the popular music that describes the life that awaits them" (Carroll et al. 1993, 162, citing Christenson and DeBenedittis 1986). What's more, racial and social class origins of rock and roll music continue to be reflected in today's music (Lipsitz 1982, ch. 10). Clearly, the act of listening to a piece of music evokes a sensorial and emotional response (Lacher 1989, Lacher and Mizerski 1994). A number of recent studies in psychology explore whether music makes people smarter and more intelligent. "Music stimulates thought processes and enhances spatial reasoning, which are essential for academic achievement" (Rauscher 1995). Sarnthein et al. (1994) tested the effects of music on spatial task performance and demonstrated that musical training has long-term positive effects on cognitive abilities. Despite overwhelming evidence that music has significant effects on cognitive
81 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors define the concept of (perfect) information value and explain precisely why more risk aversion does not always induce a greater information value, in as simple terms as possible.
Abstract: For instance, one suspects that risk-averse farmers should be willing to pay more for improved weather forecasts than risk-neutral ones. Similarly "defensive medicine" (i.e., the excess ordering of almost useless diagnostic tests) is often attributed to a risk-averse behavior by physicians. This widespread belief about a monotone relationship between the value of information and the degree of risk aversion has resisted accepting important theoretical contributions that have shown the possibility of a reverse relationship. Gould (1974) established the lack of unambiguous relationship between the degree of risk and information value. Freixas and Kihlstrom (1984) showed that information demand may decrease with the degree of risk aversion, and their result was reiterated in a different context by Willinger (1989). Unfortunately these important contributions did not have a wide impact because they were rather technical. The exception is a survey paper by Hilton (1981) who examined properties of information value. Among many other results, he showed, with the help of a very short numerical example, that an increase in risk aversion may indeed lead to a lower information value. However, he did not give the intuitive reason that justifies this surprising result. Our purpose is to explain precisely, in as simple terms as possible, why more risk aversion does not always induce a greater information value. We present the basic model, and we define the concept of (perfect) information value. A detailed numerical illustration is provided.
56 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors report on a statistical analysis of the determinants of success among more than 300 graduate students who applied for admission to one particular "top five" economics department, and the main findings were that although there is considerable uncertainty in predicting which applicants will be placed in high-ranking jobs, the math Graduate Record Examination (GRE) score, economics GRE score, and ratings of the admissions committee are useful predictors of the applicants' subsequent job placement.
Abstract: Each year, academic departments must decide which applicants to admit to their graduate program. Although departments try to maximize a complex set of objectives through their admissions process, one important consideration is the eventual job placement and professional success of their graduates. Research on predicting successful graduate students-however defined-from the pool of applicants is sparse, and in practice, economics departments are often forced to base admission decisions on ad hoc procedures, partial information, and intuition. In this article, we report on a statistical analysis of the determinants of success among more than 300 graduate students who applied for admission to one particular "top five" economics department. Graduate students' success was measured by the students' job placement nine years after they would have begun graduate study. This is obviously a narrow and incomplete measure of the success of graduate students (e.g., it excludes their teaching contributions), but it is a quantifiable dimension that many graduate programs care about. Although our results are relevant only for the pool of applicants to this particular graduate program, the application pool consisted of many, if not most, of the applicants to top Ph.D. economics programs in the United States, so the results could possibly be generalized beyond this one school. Our main findings were that, although there is considerable uncertainty in predicting which applicants will be placed in high-ranking jobs, the math Graduate Record Examination (GRE) score, economics GRE score, and ratings of the admissions committee are useful predictors of the applicants' subsequent job placement. Perhaps more surprising, a statistical model based on the quantifiable
55 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a Prisoner's Dilemma is used to describe the classroom games in the context of economic education, and a prisoner's dilemma game is used as an example.
Abstract: (2000). Classroom Games: A Prisoner's Dilemma. The Journal of Economic Education: Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 229-236.
52 citations
TL;DR: Siegfried et al. as discussed by the authors used microdata on students taking economics principles courses over a three-year span to determine the effect of student characteristics, instructor characteristics, and structural characteristics of the principles course on a student's subsequent decision to take additional economics classes or pursue an economics degree.
Abstract: Colleges and universities ha ve experienced a dramatic decline in the number of economics majors during the 1990s. Between 1992 and 1994 alone, the number of economics degrees awarded decreased by over 20 percent (Siegfried and Scott 1994; Siegfried 1995). Although some evidence indicates that the trend may be reversing (Siegfried 1997), 1 enrollment levels are still a matter of concer n in economics departments throughout the country. Although recent research has helped to explain the general trend in economics majors, 2 existing studies pr ovide little in the way of policy guidance for eco nomics departments seeking to stem the decline in majors and in enrollment. Various modifications in the economics principles course ha ve been suggested to increase the number of economics majors. These proposals include assigning popular instructors to principles classes (Mar go and Siegfried 1996), employing more female and minority instructors to ser ve as role models (Catanese 1991), and changing the content and methodology of economics classes to make economics accessible to a broader range of students (Bartlett 1995). Ho wever, no systematic analysis has been done of the impact of these proposals on the likeli hood that students will pursue further study in economics or become an eco nomics major. 3 We used microdata on students taking economics principles courses o ver a three-year span to determine the effect of student characteristics, instructor characteristics, and structural characteristics of the principles course on a student’s subsequent decision to take additional economics classes or pursue an econom ics degree. Our focus was on variables that may be within the policy control of departments seeking to boost enrollment and increase the number of majors.
51 citations
TL;DR: This article examined whether gender differences exist in the persistence pattern of economic majors and found that female students were less likely to persist from a first course in economics into a second and that grades seemed to be an important determinant of persistence for female students.
Abstract: Many researchers have investigated gender differences in performance in economics courses (e.g., Siegfried 1979; Becker 1997). Allowing for differences in method, most of these studies report significant gender differences in both learning and understanding economic knowledge, with men outperforming women. Fewer studies exist of gender differences in continued participation in economics courses. Horvath, Beaudin, and Wright (1992) found that female students were less likely to persist from a first course in economics into a second and that grades seemed to be an important determinant of persistence for female students. Dynan and Rouse (1997) examined the factors that explain the underrepresentation of undergraduate majors in economics. Summarizing the state of economic education research, Becker (1997, 1368) stated: "Research needs to move beyond simple measures of knowledge to consider what leads to student persistence during a course, into another course, or into a major, and what skills students need for future performance in the workplace." I examine in this study one of these issues-whether gender differences exist in the persistence pattern of economic majors. A study of gender differences in persistence patterns of economics majors is important in its own right but also because it could shed light on a concern that has occupied the discipline since 1995-the decline in the number of economics
TL;DR: The case of the missing organizations: Co-operatives and the Textbooks as discussed by the authors is a well-known example of missing organizations in the field of economic education, and it has been studied extensively.
Abstract: (2000). The Case of the Missing Organizations: Co-operatives and the Textbooks. The Journal of Economic Education: Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 281-295.
TL;DR: In this article, the effect of graduate-program rank on success in the job market was investigated. But the authors focused on the job-market, and not the education-related aspects.
Abstract: (2000). Effect of Graduate-Program Rank on Success in the Job Market. The Journal of Economic Education: Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 389-401.
TL;DR: The authors found that 40% of the students who matriculated in fall 1998 will take at least one economics course during their college career, and that approximately 474,000 of these students would be exposed to formal economics instruction in four-year colleges and universities.
Abstract: There is much lunchroom speculation and little reliable information about how many college and university students in the United States take at least one course in economics. To fill this gap, I included several pertinent questions on the American Economic Association's Fall 1998 Universal Academic Questionnaire. The first question asked departments to estimate the proportion of students arriving on their campus as first-year students in fall 1998 who would take at least one course in economics by the time they graduated. The second question asked how many first-year students typically arrive on campus each fall; and the third question asked those institutions that have an ordered economics introductory sequence how many students take the first and second courses in economics during a typical year. Responses from 236 four-year U.S. colleges and universities are shown in Table 1. It appears that 40 percent of the students who matriculated in fall 1998 will take at least one economics course during their college career. Similar percentages are reported in Table 1 for public and private institutions and by the institution's highest degree awarded in economics.Relatively more students take at least one economics course at Ph.D.-granting institutions than at masters or bachelors institutions. The mean exceeds the median, reflecting a higher proportion of students enrolled in at least one economics course at relatively larger colleges and universities. Combining the ratio of first-year students to total enrollments in public and private four-year institutions in 1995 (Digest of Education Statistics 1997) and the projections for year 2000 total higher education enrollments (Statistical Abstract of the United States 1998) yields an estimate of about 1,199,000 firstyear students in 2000. If 39.5 percent of this population were to take at least one economics course, about 474,000 students who matriculated in 2000 eventually would be exposed to formal economics instruction in four-year colleges and universities.
TL;DR: The data used in this study came from the 1994 High School Transcript Study (HSTS) (National Center for Education Statistics, 1998) as mentioned in this paper, which contains an analysis of the transcripts of approximately 25,000 students who graduated from high school in 1994, the most recent year the data were collected.
Abstract: The data used in this study came from the 1994 High School Transcript Study (HSTS) (National Center for Education Statistics, 1998). The HSTS contains an analysis of the transcripts of approximately 25,000 students who graduated from high school in 1994, the most recent year the data were collected. The transcripts were obtained from a nationally representative sample of 340 schools and were weighted to show the course enrollments nationwide. For comparative purposes, the HSTS also provides estimates of courses taken in 1982, 1987, and 1990.
TL;DR: In this article, an experiential learning approach is proposed to enhance the macroeconomics course. But the course is not designed for the general public. And it is not easy to transfer knowledge.
Abstract: (2000). Enhancing the Macroeconomics Course: An Experiential Learning Approach. The Journal of Economic Education: Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 60-65.
TL;DR: In this paper, undergraduate economics degree trends through the 1990s were studied and the authors found that the degree acceptance rate for women increased with the number of women in the workforce.
Abstract: (2000). Undergraduate Economics Degree Trends Through the 1990s. The Journal of Economic Education: Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 296-300.
TL;DR: The Journal of Economic Education: Vol. 31, No. 3, No 3, pp. 301-301 as mentioned in this paper has published a survey of the economic time series of 2000.
Abstract: (2000). Economic Time-Series Page. The Journal of Economic Education: Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 301-301.
TL;DR: This paper proposed to formalize the process of forecasting into a semester-long course, which would benefit the student's ability to think like an economist and assure increased attention to realworld applications in economics.
Abstract: According to Siegfried et al. (1991, 199), most economists agree that the goal of an economics education is to enable students to "think like an economist," which involves using deductive reasoning, problem-solving skills, and creative thinking in conjunction with simplified models to understand economic events. When economic thinking is applied to the real world, it almost always involves a prediction of events based on past data and model assumptions. Formalizing the process of prediction into a semester-long forecasting course would benefit the student's ability to think like an economist and assure increased attention to realworld applications in economics. A formal forecasting course is not a traditional part of the economics curriculum. According to Hanke and Weigand (1994), only 17 percent of institutions that they surveyed offered a formal forecasting course in the economics department. Yet there are many reasons to offer a forecasting course as an elective in the economics curriculum. Not only does such a course prepare students to perform an important function in most companies, but it also complements other courses in the curriculum and provides a real-world context for econometrics and statistics.
TL;DR: The literature on groupware is reviewed to illustrate how the strengths of groupware might remedy some of the problems students have when working in groups.
Abstract: Implementing collaborative learning can be difficult, and research shows that the results can be uncertain (Becker 1997; Glaser and Bassok 1989). Recently developed instructional technologies can facilitate the collaborative process for students by adding structure to their group experiences, giving them additional tools to support their work and minimizing the impact of some of the logistical problems inherent in coordinating group members. One such technology, called groupware, is a type of software designed to support people working together by facilitating basic work group processes such as communication, idea generation and evaluation, decisionmaking, and planning and record keeping. Groupware effectively supports many forms of collaborative work activity, which has led to its rapidly increasing use in industry and could make it an excellent tool for facilitating collaborative work among students. Most groupware is designed to operate with the types of networked computers commonly found on university campuses, so it is a technology accessible to most faculty. Early versions of groupware focused largely on facilitating electronic communication and sharing access to a common database. During a meeting, groupmembers could view common screens summarizing data or presentation slides and could communicate electronically during and after the meeting. In contrast, some of the latest groupware releases include (1) more advanced means of electronic communication, (2) elaborate graphics, (3) control and monitoring of the group process and group members' participation, (4) ways to structure tasks to enhance effectiveness of the group or reduce the time taken to accomplish a group goal, and (5) decisionmaking aids, ranging from ways to increase the number of ideas to new ways to summarize or consolidate ideas expressed by group members. We review the literature on groupware to illustrate how the strengths of groupware might remedy some of the problems students have when working in groups. Greenlaw (1999) describes how groupware can make communication and information sharing among students in economics much easier through the use of
TL;DR: The third edition of The Data Game as mentioned in this paper introduces students to the collection, use, and interpretation of statistical data in the social sciences, including demography, housing, health, education, crime, the national economy, wealth, income and poverty, labor, business, government, and public opinion polling.
Abstract: Now updated for web-based research, the third edition of The Data Game introduces students to the collection, use, and interpretation of statistical data in the social sciences. Separate chapters are devoted to data in the fields of demography, housing, health, education, crime, the national economy, wealth, income and poverty, labor, business, government, and public opinion polling. The concluding chapter is devoted to the common problem of ambiguity in social science statistics.
TL;DR: Learning by Trial and Error: A Case for Moot Courts as mentioned in this paper is a case study of learning by trial and error in the context of Moot courts, which is also related to our work.
Abstract: (2000). Learning by Trial and Error: A Case for Moot Courts. The Journal of Economic Education: Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 145-155.
TL;DR: The Ten Cheaper Spades: Production Theory and Cost Curves in the Short Run by as mentioned in this paper is a classic work on cost curves in the short run of a production process.
Abstract: (2000). Ten Cheaper Spades: Production Theory and Cost Curves in the Short Run. The Journal of Economic Education: Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 119-130.
TL;DR: This Web site is a resource for college instructors of economics who would like to use noncomputerized economic experiments (games) in their classrooms and consists of an extensively annotated and hyperlinked compilation of more than 113 classroom games.
Abstract: (2000). Games Economists Play: Noncomputerized Classroom Games. The Journal of Economic Education: Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 406-406.
TL;DR: In this paper, the Salem witch trials are considered and Homo economicus and the Salem Witch Trials are discussed. The Journal of Economic Education: Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 179-184.
Abstract: (2000). Homo Economicus and the Salem Witch Trials. The Journal of Economic Education: Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 179-184.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe an experiment that demonstrates the dynamic process that leads to long-run equilibrium in a multimarket setting, where each student plays the part of a farmer who has to decide each period whether to supply one unit of corn, wheat, rice or soybeans.
Abstract: In this article, I describe an experiment that demonstrates the dynamic process that leads to long-run equilibrium in a multimarket setting. In the experiment, each student plays the part of a farmer who has to decide each period whether to supply one unit of corn, wheat, rice, or soybeans. It costs different amounts to produce each of the crops, and the prices of the crops depend on the amount supplied and consumer demand. There are no consumers in the experiment. Demand is determined from prespecified inverse demand curves that are unknown to the participants.' Students are instructed to act as profit maximizers. The goal is to see how free entry and exit lead to equal profits across markets in the long run, and how opportunity costs determine what those profits are. In addition, some subtle aspects of the process that leads to long-run equilibrium are revealed. The experiment has two stages. In each round of the first stage, students decide which one of the four markets to enter. The opportunity cost of farming is zero, and long-run equilibrium has zero accounting profits in each market. In the second stage, the government introduces a fallow program whereby it guarantees any farmer a profit of one dollar if he or she does not plant a crop. The fallow program increases the opportunity cost of farming to one dollar and makes that the equilibrium level of accounting profits. Market experiments such as the double oral-auction experiment introduced by Smith (1962) are often run in economics classes (Wells 1991; DeYoung 1993). Such experiments focus on how competitive markets clear and on the efficiency of competitive equilibrium. The experiment discussed here is a natural follow-up to the double oral auction. It should be conducted after economic profits have been defined and the short- and long-run profitability of firms in competitive markets has been discussed.
TL;DR: The authors discuss a computer-based mapping tool called a ge ographic info rm ation system (GIS), which can present the inter-s p at i a l va ri ations in economic indicat o rs in color-coded or symbol-coded thematic map s.
Abstract: Wh at does a U. S. unemployment rate of 4.5 percent re a l ly mean? Is it the norm or an ab e rration? If it is an a b e rrat i o n , is it large or small? P o s i t ive or negat ive ? One of my goals as an economics instructor is to help students understand the sign i ficance of economic and social indicat o rs , s u ch as the current U. S. unemployment rat e, by making comparisons with other time periods and other g e ograp h i c regions. Although time-series graphs illustrate eff i c i e n t l y the inter- t e m p o ra l ch a n ges in an economic indicat o r, i n t e r- s p a tial va ri ations have been more difficult to commu n i c at e. In this art i cl e, I discuss a computer-based mapping tool called a ge ographic info rm ation system (GIS), wh i ch can present the inter- s p at i a l va ri ations in economic indicat o rs in color-coded or symbol-coded thematic map s . I discuss some benefits of thematic mapping to the economics student, give e x a mples and sample assignments for economics cours e s , detail the hardwa re and softwa re re q u i rements for cre ating thematic map s , and give a description of the p rocess of cre ating thematic maps for use in an economics cl a s s .
TL;DR: This article reviewed several aspects of the 10th comprehensive revision as reported in various issues of the Survey of Current Business and discussed the impact of substitution bias on the measurement of economic growth under the old method, then showed that with the new method there is no longer a fixed base year because the Fisher Ideal indexes are chain-type annual-weighted quantity and price indexes that are in effect rebased each year.
Abstract: Students and researchers selecting tables on the Bureau of Economic Analysis' (BEA) Internet site may be surprised to discover an array of unfamiliar quantity and price indexes in the national income and product accounts. The new method represented in the tables by Fisher Ideal quantity and price indexes was introduced by the bureau during a period of time when users were becoming increasingly dependent on electronic media for data as well as explanatory information. Unfortunately the method changes in the national income and product accounts have received little or no attention from economists in academia. However, the new approach has important implications for the measurement of economic growth and the interpretation of real-dollar estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) and its components. The purpose of this article is to review several aspects of the bureau's 10th comprehensive revision as reported in various issues of the Survey of Current Business. I discuss the impact of substitution bias on the measurement of economic growth under the old method, then show that with the new method there is no longer a fixed base year because the Fisher Ideal indexes are chain-type annual-weighted quantity and price indexes that are in effect rebased each year. The new methodology has resulted in chained dollar estimates of GDP and its components that are not additive in real-dollar terms; I discuss the impact of this inconsistency on the analysis of contributions to growth.1
TL;DR: In this article, a graphical analysis of the policy effectiveness and the slope of IS and LM curves is presented, along with a discussion of the role of IS curves in economic performance.
Abstract: (2000). Policy Effectiveness and the Slopes of IS and LM Curves: A Graphical Analysis. The Journal of Economic Education: Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 374-381.
TL;DR: In this paper, interview scheduling strategies of new PhD economists are discussed. But the focus is on the interview scheduling strategy of the new PhD economics students, rather than the authors themselves.
Abstract: (2000) Interview Scheduling Strategies of New PhD Economists The Journal of Economic Education: Vol 31, No 2, pp 191-201