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.     

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。     

First-Year Study Success in Economics and Econometrics: The Role of Gender,Motivation, and Math Skills

In this study, the authors investigate the relationships among gender, math skills, motivation, and study success in economics and econometrics. They find that female students have stronger intrinsic motivation, yet lower study confidence than their male counterparts. They also find weak evidence for a gender gap over the entire first-year curriculum of economics or econometrics. In terms of size and significance, their estimates of gender effects rank below the effects of preparatory education and motivation.     

Implementing Hansen's Proficiencies

The authors describe the framework their department has adopted to incorporate the attainment of Hansen's (1986) proficiencies into the curriculum. Major changes include the identification of tools students should be able to use to complete specific activities, significant changes in prerequisites for upper-division courses, and the development of a capstone experience designed to bring together the various tools the student has been introduced to as he or she proceeds through the major. They believe that the design characteristics of their capstone experience promote the achievement of Hansen's proficiencies, and the framework described here could be easily adopted by other departments.     

Using a Geographic Information System to Teach Economics

An honors program fits the current passion for active, in-depth learning and “capstone experiences.” Principles that guide a successful undergraduate economics honors program include simplicity, accessibility, skill development, risk minimization, and incentives to combat procrastination. The model program specifies three of the usual six electives and requires a senior thesis that makes an original contribution to economics understanding. It can be started as late as the middle of the junior year, providing accessibility and limiting student risk. A required econometrics course and a policy seminar prepare students to write a thesis. A series of short-term deadlines helps combat procrastination. Although an honors program is not for everyone, its emphasis on quality rather than quantity can add a valuable dimension to most economics degree programs.     

Professional Developments and Opportunities

Surveys in 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010 investigated teaching and assessment methods in different undergraduate courses. In this article, the authors offer basic results from the 2010 survey. “Chalk and talk” remains the dominant teaching style, but there were drops in mean (although not median) values for those pedagogies and some growth in the use of other methods, including class discussion and computer-generated displays. More instructors provided students with problem sets and class notes, and computer lab assignments were increasingly common in econometrics and statistics courses. Experiments are occasionally used in introductory courses but almost never used in other courses. Calculus is not viewed as important by a majority of instructors in any courses but is considered more important in intermediate theory and statistics and econometrics courses.     

对应用写作与应用写作课价值的再认识

基于应用文及其写作与当代人们的社会实践间的关系,本文从新的视角论述了应用文及其写作的价值。即应用文是组织传播的重要载体,是保障组织生存与发展的重要手段;应用文及其写作是现代人应具备的一项基本素质,是个人创业和成功的必备技能之一。从新的视角论述了《应用写作》课的价值,即其是培养大学生基本素质与基本能力的课程,可促进学生对其它课程的学习与研究,有助于培养大学生思考问题、解决问题的能力。     

Evaluating the flipped classroom: A randomized controlled trial

Despite recent interest in flipped classrooms, rigorous research evaluating their effectiveness is sparse. In this study, the authors implement a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effect of a flipped classroom technique relative to a traditional lecture in an introductory undergraduate econometrics course. Random assignment enables the analysis to eliminate other potential explanations of performance differences between the flipped and traditional classrooms, while assignment of experimental condition by section and lesson enables improved statistical precision. The authors find that the flipped classroom increases scores on medium-term, high-stakes assessments by 0.16 standard deviation, with similar long-term effects for high-performing students. Estimated impacts are robust to alternative specifications accounting for possible spillover effects arising from the experimental design.     

Tweeting Your Way to Improved #Writing, #Reflection,and #Community

Economics appears to be lagging behind other fields in the adoption of Web 2.0 technologies in the classroom. Twitter is an online microblogging utility, permitting posts of up to 140 characters called tweets. The utility is rapidly making its way into secondary and post-secondary classrooms as a complement to traditional instruction and an active learning tool. In this article, the author describes how Twitter was employed as a complement to traditional lecture in a small macroeconomics principles course (the instrument is applicable to courses at any level). The brevity of the tweets forces students to express their thoughts concisely and is believed to develop reflection and writing skills while expanding the class community.     

Doing Economics: Enhancing Skills through a Process-Oriented Senior Research Course

The author describes a senior-level course designed to promote student skills in "acting like economists." Although most departments offer senior-level courses, this one is unique in that it was developed on the basis of learning as opposed to content objectives, assignments are designed to reinforce and further develop research skills through a project of the student's choosing, and it more closely models what it means to "act like an economist" (W. L. Hansen 2006). The author discusses the development of this course and its unique features, the research process followed by students and the outcomes generated, and some of the advantages and disadvantages associated with this form of senior research course.     

从语用学角度彰显高级英语教学的“高级”

作为技术本科英语专业的一门主干课程,高级英语须有别于基础阶段的综合英语精读课程,真正体现其在高层次延伸的特色,以提高人才综合技能和创新人文素养为宗旨。运用英语语用学理论,以张汉熙主编的《高级英语》为蓝本,探讨如何取得创新和突破,使学生在高层次上获得语感、语义、语用的训练。     

金融计量经济学:成就和挑战

本文通过对近 2 0年来金融计量经济学主要发展成就的回顾 ,介绍了计量经济学研究的热点领域和有待解决的问题。本文认为 ,ARCH模型以及在此基础上发展起来的其他异方差模型、GMM以及与之相关的参数估计方法的出现以及在金融经济学中成功的运用 ,是金融计量经济学最重要最基本的成就 ;数据及处理方法的独特性使金融计量经济学相对独立于传统计量经济学而发展。     

行业属性对劳动报酬的边际效应及其细部特征——基于分位数回归模型的实证研究

目前学术界普遍使用的基于最小二乘法的传统线性回归方法不但不能分析行业属性对劳动报酬边际效应的细部特征,而且行业劳动报酬分布具有的非正态分布特征还会严重影响模型的估计结果,误导分析结论,而现代计量经济学中的分位数回归模型可以有效地解决上述问题.文章使用分位数回归模型方法对影响劳动报酬的行业属性变量进行了选择,测算了有关行业属性变量在不同部门、不同分位点上对劳动报酬的边际效应,分析了边际效应的细部特征与变化规律.     

What Should be Taught in Intermediate Macroeconomics?

A lack of consensus remains on what should form the theoretical core of the undergraduate intermediate macroeconomic course. In determining how to deal with the Keynesian/classical divide, instructors must decide whether to follow the modern approach of building macroeconomic relationships from micro foundations, or to use the traditional approach based on aggregate models of the macroeconomy. In this article, the authors discuss the advantages and shortcomings of each approach in the context of course objectives. Because there is significant heterogeneity in textbook coverage, the authors summarize some of the approaches taken in current intermediate-level textbooks, which should serve as a useful starting point for new instructors. The authors also discuss how each approach can be extended to analyze the recent recession in the United States.     

Syllabus and economics: Reasoning with Generation “Why”

In this article, the authors propose to enhance the syllabus for economic courses with economic explanations. They argue that providing economic rationale for course policies can increase student interest in the course and at the same time positively affect student attitude toward course policies. The authors describe practical strategies for incorporating economic explanations into the syllabus and present insights from piloting the technique.     

Default options and training participation

This article analyzes whether defaults affect the choice for courses followed at work. In addition, we analyze whether the size of the default effect varies with employees’ personality and skill-deficiencies. We perform an experiment in which workers are hypothetically offered three courses which they can accept or exchange for other courses. Randomizing the default package of courses, we identify the default effect. Default courses are chosen approximately three times more often than other courses. They are chosen more often if people have skill-deficiencies in these courses, suggesting that people consider the default to be an advice. Women choose default courses more often than men. Women with less self-confidence and men with lower cognitive skills choose the default courses more often.     

高校基础生物学实验课教学改革中的几点考虑

加强学生理论联系实际的能力,培养学生创新思维和提高从事科研的能力,是实验课教学改革的主要目标和任务。在基础生物学实验课教学中,注重激发和培养学生对实验的探索,加强学生的基本实验技能的培养,坚持实验室开放原则,完善改革实验课的考核方法,是提高实验教学质量的基本关键因素。     

Applications of Generative Learning for the Survey of International Economics Course

Generative learning provides students with opportunities to organize course content, integrate new content with students' current knowledge, and elaborate on course content by making connections to real-world events. These opportunities promote less reliance on professors' lectures and simultaneously create more self-reliance among students. The authors offer categories of generative learning strategies and briefly discuss their merits. They offer ideas for implementing generative strategies into the day-to-day events of an economics course. Although the authors use a survey of international economics course as their example, the ideas in this article could be applied in a variety of economics courses.     

A Graphical Interpretation of Probit Coefficients

Although the use of discrete choice models (particularly the probit model) is widely taught, it is the method rather than the interpretation of results that is emphasized. This article provides a graphical technique for interpretation that will be useful in statistics and econometrics courses.