The Structure of the Introductory Economics Course in United States Colleges

The authors examine class size, teaching methods, and the one-semester/two-semester organization of the first course in economics, where colleges and universities are classified into five broad categories, from liberal arts colleges to research institutions. Student satisfaction with respect to their institution is also reported.     

Survey of International Trade/Economics Textbooks

Fourteen international economics textbooks are reviewed to aid instructors in selecting textbooks for one- and two-semester courses.     

Core Requirements for the Economics Major

In this article, the authors are the first to describe the core economics curriculum requirements for economics majors at all American colleges and universities, as opposed to a sample of institutions. Not surprisingly, principles of economics is nearly universally required and implemented as a two-semester course in 85 percent of economics major programs. Most schools do not prescribe the order in which the principles sequence is taken. The intermediate courses are commonly required, although variation exists across institution types. While the quantitative requirement for the major has increased since 1980, significant differences exist among institutions and by academic rankings. As compared to 1950, there has been an increase in the number of required economics credit hours for the major.     

Teaching College Economics in the High Schools: The Role of Concurrent Enrollment Programs

The authors examine concurrent enrollment programs (CEP) as an effective means of teaching college economics in high school. They describe the establishment of the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships to set national standards for CEP. They also investigate the performance of high school students taking the Syracuse University one-semester micro/macro principles of economics course through its CEP, Project Advance, on the Test of Economic Literacy. CEP students average nearly 1 percentage point higher than do the advanced placement/honors economics group and score considerably better in fundamentals and international economics. By cognitive levels, CEP students score over 4 percentage points in the knowledge area and exhibit better performance on application questions.     

One Semester Or Two

The problem of optimum instruction in economics includes all kinds of technological constraints created by choices among different media of instruction. It also includes the problem of how long a course is required for adequate instruction. Traditionally, principles of economics has been taught as a two-semester, three-hour credit course. This article investigates the extent to which the results achieved by students after one semester's study are equivalent to those achieved after two semesters, and finds the differences less than might be supposed.     

An Integrated Modular Approach to Teaching Introductory Economics

The authors describe the design and administration of a large two-semester course in principles of economics that permits both students and faculty some choice of both subject matter and meeting times during the semester. Students complete a standardized nine-week core and are then allowed to select topical modules. Advantages and disadvantages are discussed.     

Econometrics as a Capstone Course in Economics

The author describes an econometrics capstone course design at a large public university that offers economics degrees in both business (BBA) and liberal arts (BS). The goal of the capstone is to provide a research experience similar to those in the honors college but on the smaller scale of a one-semester course. The revisions for converting an existing course to a capstone, the student activities adopted, and sample outcomes are addressed. The hurdles overcome within the respective colleges in order to create a capstone course are discussed. Summaries of several student projects as well as publication of faculty-mentored student research papers illustrate the viability of econometrics as a capstone course for institutions unable to establish a stand-alone research course for that purpose.     

Undergraduate Coursework in Economics: A Survey Perspective

Survey results from a large sample of economics departments describe offerings for principles courses, coursework requirements for economics majors, and program augmentations such as capstone courses, senior seminars, and honors programs. Findings are reported for all institutions, and institutions are subdivided into six different categories based on public or private control and the highest economics degree offered. The coursework required for the economics major typically consists of ten courses, five in a required core and five electives. The most conspicuous curriculum change over the past 30 years is the rise of econometrics as a required course, now mandatory at about half of major programs. The authors estimate that about 40 percent of students who matriculate as first-year undergraduates take at least one economics course before they leave.     

Trends in Undergraduate Economics Degrees: An Update

The author examines the effects of different introductory microeconomics textbooks on student performance in subsequent economics courses (specifically, Intermediate Microeconomics I and Money and Banking). In some cases, the effects are significant and sizeable. There is also evidence of other variables affecting student performance in later courses, such as taking first-year microeconomics by distance, math background, effects of having taken other economics courses, and the time between introductory economics and later courses.     

Reforming Undergraduate Instruction in Russia,Belarus, and Ukraine

The authors deal with the restructuring of undergraduate economics instruction at Moscow State University (MSU) since 1989. They examine how closely the reforms at MSU are mirrored by changes at Belarus State University in Minsk and at Kiev State University. They also consider, and often offer an “insider's” perspective on, several issues related to curriculum reform that go beyond what can be determined from published curriculum guides. Specifically, they consider such issues as the training and retraining of faculty members who teach courses in these departments, the use of translated Western textbooks versus locally developed textbooks, and problems that arise in departments where some faculty members teach Western economics but others continue to teach Soviet-style economics.     

计量经济学的地位、作用和局限

目前,计量经济学和微观经济学与宏观经济学一起构成了中国高校经济管理类本科生和研究生必修的三门经济学核心理论课程。计量经济学在中国经济学界受到越来越广泛的关注,其方法与工具也在实证研究中被大量应用。本文将阐述现代计量经济学的基本思想和方法论,计量经济学在经济学研究中的地位、作用和局限性,计量经济学与数理经济学、数理统计学及经济统计学之间的差异,等等,并运用大量经济学和金融学中有代表性的实例说明计量经济学的应用以及在应用时应注意的若干问题。     

How Departments of Economics Evaluate Teaching

Based on results from a 1999 national survey, William Becker and Michael Watts found that student evaluations of teaching were by far the most widely used, and often the only method used by economics departments, to evaluate teaching in undergraduate economics courses. To investigate whether departments of economics have moved beyond the use of student evaluations of teaching, in 2011 the current authors conducted a national survey of departments based largely on questions used in the 1999 survey. The surveys included items on how courses and teaching are evaluated, and on how that information is used in departmental promotion and salary decisions.     

Teaching Economics to Undergraduates in Europe: Volume,Structure, and Contents

The structure and contents of undergraduate programs in economics and management sciences differ among the major European universities. Based on analyses of curriculums, course syllabuses, and adopted textbooks, the author looks at how much time is spent in pertinent programs, how time is allocated among different courses within programs, what common thematic denominators exist, and finally and most importantly, whether and in what way content taught in micro and macro courses differs. Based on examinations of how the coverage in major textbooks has evolved through successive editions, he also looks for trends and cycles in what is taught in undergraduate micro and macroeconomics.     

对社会转型期《劳动经济学》课程内容建设的思考

课程内容建设是课程建设的关键。在社会转型期,劳动经济学课程内容建设应该将西方劳动经济学的一般原理与我国市场经济的具体实践相结合,关注经济现实,立足于问题研究,着眼于学科发展,为学生了解经济发展的规律和劳动力市场的实践服务。     

The Neglect of Monotone Comparative Statics Methods

Monotone methods enable comparative static analysis without the restrictive assumptions of the implicit-function theorem. Ease of use and flexibility in solving comparative static and game-theory problems have made monotone methods popular in the economics literature and in graduate courses, but they are still absent from undergraduate mathematical economics courses and textbooks. In this article, the authors illustrate the generality of monotone comparative statics relative to the implicit function approach. For example, to sign the effect of a discrete policy shift on a choice variable, the marginal returns will increase with the policy parameter. They also apply monotone methods in game theory settings. As mathematical economics courses and majors gain popularity, incorporating monotone methods into curriculum and textbooks would provide a modern treatment of comparative static analysis.     

Teaching (un)sustainability? University sustainability commitments and student experiences of introductory economics

The three largest public universities in British Columbia, Canada have signed the Talloires Declaration, committing themselves to promoting sustainability and creating expectations that they will integrate sustainability across the curriculum in order to improve students' environmental literacy and stewardship. About 40% of North American university students take a mainstream introductory economics course; few of these students take economics at more advanced levels. As such, introductory economics courses are an important vehicle for students to learn economic theory; they have the potential to contribute to the knowledge that students can mobilize to foster sustainability. Interviews were held with 54 students who had recently completed an introductory level mainstream economics course at one of the three universities. Students reported that introductory economics courses place little emphasis on the environment and sustainability, they recalled course content with normative connotations that are problematic from a sustainability perspective and they described how discussion of the limitations of mainstream theory was set aside. Student reports of the insights introductory economics offers into environmental problems imply that these courses are failing to substantively increase students' understanding of sustainability and linkages between the environment and the economy. Findings suggest that current introductory economics curriculum undermines the universities' sustainability commitments.     

Economics Courses Offered and Required in Two-year Colleges

Reporting the results of a nation-wide survey of economics in junior colleges, Dawson lists the courses given and indicates which students are required to take economics. Not surprisingly, Principles of Economics is most common, and business students are the ones most likely to be required to take it. The average number of courses offered is three, although some schools offer as many as 10. A breakdown by type of college (public, independent, church-related) is presented, and suggestions for improvement are offered.     

Policy issues in the teaching of economics in cyberspace: research design, course design, and research results

More than 50 colleges, universities, and community colleges now offer economics instruction in cyberspace, and this number is growing rapidly. Despite the implications of this growth for the quality of economics instruction, only a small fraction of those institutions venturing into cyberlearning are doing so in a carefully monitor the quality and performance of their online courses. It does so within the context of reporting the course design, research design, and research results of two cyberlearning studies conducted at the University of California.     

EVIDENCE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ECONOMICS AND CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS

This research provides empirical support for the hypothesis that learning economics increases a student's critical thinking skills. Using the short form of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA-S) as our measure of critical thinking skills, we find that students who gain a high level of economic understanding in their introductory economics class, as measured by the Test of Understanding College Economics (TUCE), have statistically significant gains in their WGCTA-S scores. Students who spend more time taking classes and are more fully engaged in the university experience also have greater gains in critical thinking. These results lend support to the idea that introductory economics courses can work in concert with other university level courses, especially within the context of a full-time curriculum, to enhance critical thinking skills. ( JEL A22)