Effects of Real and Contrived Problem-Solving on Economic Learning

For many years problem-solving approaches have been touted as being superior to conventional teaching methods in precollege classrooms. Too few of the supporters of this technique have undertaken well-controlled research to determine whether or not it really is superior. Although the “final” answer remains to be given, Ellis and Glenn have made a commendable start in their research involving fifth and sixth-grade students. They have measured the effectiveness of three approaches to the teaching of economics in the intermediate school grades to determine which is more effective in teaching basic economic concepts and which is more effective in teaching problem-solving skills. Both their findings and their research design should be of interest to all who are concerned about the teaching of economics at the precollege level.     

Regional Papers of Interest to Economic Educators

Using data collected from graduates who attended four large public universities in 1976, 1986, or 1996, the authors investigate the relationship between studying economics and civic behaviors. They compare students who majored in economics, business, or other majors, and by the number of undergraduate economics courses completed. Coursework is strongly associated with political party affiliation and donating money to candidates or parties, but not with voting in presidential, state, or local elections, nor with the likelihood or intensity of volunteerism. Business majors are less likely to engage in voting and volunteering. More economics coursework is usually associated with attitudes on policy issues closer to those reported in surveys of U.S. economists, while attitudes of business majors are more like those of general majors than economics majors.     

Economic Education in Schools and Universities in England

The authors review three aspects of economic education in England. They examine trends in undergraduate economics in England, principally in terms of recruitment and outcomes and connections with economics in schools. They also review formal instruction in schools through so-called “advanced level” courses for 16–19-year-old students and the role of the academic community in recent research in England on economic education.     

Teaching Economics in the Schools: A Review of Survey Findings

The authors review and contrast the findings of a 1981 national survey of economic education at the precollege level and 15 state surveys conducted at about the same time. The picture that emerges is disturbing: instruction in economics tends to be minimal (or nonexistent) for many students, and teacher training in economics is limited. Curriculum structure, teacher training, and the development and use of materials are interrelated problems facing economic education.     

An Alternative View of Citation Patterns of Quantitative Literature Cited by Business and Economic Researchers

Using nationally representative data, the authors examine the effects of preprofessional education on the earnings of lawyers. They specify and estimate a statistical earnings function on the basis of well-established theory and principles. Along with standard control variables, categorical variables are included to represent graduate degrees in addition to the law degree and an assortment of undergraduate major fields. Holding a Ph.D. or M.B.A. degree, with the law degree, is associated with significantly higher earnings in some sectors. Lawyers with undergraduate training in economics earn more than other lawyers, ceteris paribus, and economics is the only undergraduate field associated with earnings that differ significantly. The available evidence supports the hypothesis that economics training increases a lawyer's human capital compared with other undergraduate majors.     

The Committee on Economic Education: Its Effect on the Introductory Course and Women in Economics

The percentage of women economics majors has stagnated for decades. This is creating a bottleneck in the pipeline of female economists. The Committee on Economic Education (CEE) of the American Economic Association (AEA) is charged with fostering economic understanding and effective teaching. An examination of its structure, membership and activities over the past 35 years, however, suggests that it has narrowed the scope of economic ideas presented in introductory economics and has not convinced instructors of the benefits of a more active learning environment. The task of engaging students in the search for greater knowledge has largely been left to heterodox “visionaries,” members of the profession who have tried to find ways to make economics courses more interesting and inviting to all students, and especially to under-represented groups. We conclude that the CEE’s membership and structure contribute to the small percentage of the increasingly female undergraduate population who major in economics.     

Journal Articles of Interest from Other Disciplines

The authors describe the present state of economic education in Japan. There is a larger number of undergraduate students who major in economics, but their purpose of studying economics and their economic literacy differ. Precollege economic education is regulated by the course of study and limited by the poor ability of teachers to teach the economics content.     

Geographic Differences in the Earnings of Economics Majors

Economics has been shown to be a relatively high-earning college major, but geographic differences in earnings have been largely overlooked. The authors of this article use the American Community Survey to examine geographic differences in both absolute earnings and relative earnings for economics majors. They find that there are substantial geographic differences in both the absolute and relative earnings of economics majors, even when controlling for individual characteristics such as age, education, occupation, and industry. They argue that mean earnings in specific labor markets are a better measure of the benefits of majoring in economics than simply looking at national averages.     

Using Art (Paintings,Drawings, and Engravings) to Teach Economics

The authors provide a brief review of how economists have dealt with art in their research and more popular writings, and then consider the case that has been made for using art and other visual materials in general education and—in very few cases—to teach economics. A new Web site on Art and Economics is introduced that makes it easier for economics instructors to find and use art with their students. They discuss several different ways of using the art in classes, and provide a table with over 50 paintings from the Introduction slide show at the Web site to illustrate the range of economic concepts and issues that can be taught with art.     

Why it Pays to Major in Economics

In this article, the authors use a large, recent, and accessible data set to examine the effect of economics major on individual earnings. They find a significant positive earnings gain for economics majors relative to other majors, and this advantage increases with the level of education. Their findings are consistent with Black, Sanders, and Taylor (2003), documenting that about two-thirds of the bachelor's degree premium for economics majors can be attributed to the type of job economics majors perform, and about one-third is a premium that economics majors earn over other workers within the same job.     

The Status of Econometrics in the Economics Major: A Survey

In this article, the authors describe the place of econometrics in undergraduate economics curricula in all American colleges and universities that offer economics majors as listed in the U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges 2010” guide (U.S. News & World Report 2009). Data come from online catalogs, departmental Web sites, and online course syllabi. About one-third of the schools require econometrics of all students majoring in economics, about half require it of none, and a sixth require it of some, but not all, economics majors. Among universities with economics PhD programs and liberal arts colleges, almost all those ranked in the top 10 require it. Below the top 10, there is little correlation between ranking and econometrics requirements. Liberal arts econometrics classes are much more likely to require research projects than their counterparts in universities.     

Reviewers for Volume 41

The authors document the types of undergraduate colleges and universities attended by those who earned a doctorate in economics from an American university from 1966 through 2003. They examine relationships between type of undergraduate institution and attrition and time-to-degree in PhD programs. The total number of new economics PhDs awarded to U.S. citizens has declined precipitously over the past 30 years. Concurrently, the number of new economics doctorates who hold undergraduate degrees from U.S. universities has fallen by half, from a high of about 800 in 1972 to about 400 in 2003. Among those who have earned undergraduate degrees from American institutions, the mix of schools attended by the doctorates has remained relatively stable, with about 55 percent of those who earn a PhD in economics each year holding their bachelor's degree from a university that offers a PhD in economics and a bit more than 10 percent holding a bachelors degree from a selective liberal arts college. Currently, 18 of the 25 American undergraduate institutions that send the largest percentage of their graduating classes on to earn a PhD in economics are liberal arts colleges. Graduates of liberal arts colleges also have shorter time-to-degree and higher verbal Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores than other economics PhD students.     

LSAT Scores of Economics Majors: The 2003-2004 Class Update

Abstract: Using 1994-1995 data, Nieswiadomy (1998) found that economics majors scored well on the Law School Admissions Test. These results are frequently posted on university Web sites by economics departments. However, because the results are nearly 10 years old, it may be interesting to determine if economics majors still perform as well. The author, using current data for the 2003-2004 class of students entering law school, finds that economics majors still performed at or near the top of all majors taking the test. Economics majors rank first (156.6) of the 12 largest disciplines (those with more than 2,200 students entering law school). Economics ranks third behind physics/math (158.9) and philosophy/religion (157.4) in a set of 29 discipline groupings that are created to yield at least 700 students with similar majors.     

LSAT® Scores of Economics Majors: The 2012–13 Class Update

Using 1994–95, 2002–3, and 2008–9 data, the author found that economics majors scored well on the LSAT® (1998, 2006, 2010). These results are often posted on university economics (and other) department Web sites. The author, who updates the prior studies using current data for law school applicants for the 2012–13 class of students entering law school, finds that economics majors continue to perform at or near the top of all majors applying for law school. Economics majors (LSAT® score of 159.1) had the highest score of the 16 largest disciplines (those with more than 1,000 students entering law school). Economics places second behind math/physics (161.8) in a set of 29 discipline groupings that contain at least 325 students with similar majors.     

Factors Affecting the Content of High School Economics

Several years ago there was great interest in the high school economics course. Studies were being made of the effectiveness of high school economics, of the relationship between the student's high school economics background and his or her performance in the college principles course, and of the economic knowledge of precollege teachers. Strom's article may bring about a revival of interest in secondary school economic instruction. He has considered variables not previously taken into account, he has addressed the problem of defining the high school course, and—perhaps most important—he has suggested that the two-step factor analysis/regression procedure may be superior to the standard regression analysis in economic education research.     

A Further Note on Programmed Learning in Economics

The teaching of economics at the pre-college level in Britain has been increasing rapidly, a fact that is viewed with alarm by university teachers who feel that more harm than good is done in the process. Harbury and Szreter compare the performance of students who studied economics before coming to the university with those who did not, concluding that prior study of economics does not “… appear to inhibit the success of the future undergraduate.” They discuss several factors, such as age, sex, and mathematics background, which seem to be associated with above-average marks in university economics.     

物流类本科专业大学生创新能力培养分析

创新能力培养是高等教育面临的一个迫切需要解决的难题,物流类本科专业作为一门新兴交叉学科对大学生创新能力培养有着更加特殊的要求。在分析物流类本科专业发展以及大学生创新能力培养现状的基础上,采用问卷调查的方式取得一手资料,然后运用数理统计的相关知识,统计分析出10个影响物流类本科专业大学生创新能力培养的主要因素,进一步运用主成分分析法回归和归纳出三个影响创新能力培养的主成分因素,进而有针对性地提出高等学校物流类本科专业大学生创新能力培养的具体措施与途径。     

International Trends in Economics Degrees During the 1990s

Australia, Canada, Germany, and the United States experienced a substantial decline in undergraduate degrees in economics from 1992 through 1996, followed immediately by a modest recovery. This cycle does not conform to overall degree trends, shifts in the gender composition of undergraduate populations, or changing interests of female students in any of the four countries. There is no evidence that changes in the “price” of a degree to students, tightened marking standards or degree requirements, or changes in pedagogical methods caused the cycle.

Jobs for economics graduates declined in the United States between 1988 and 1990 and thereafter recovered. With a two-year recognition lag, the pattern of employment prospects fits the U.S. slump in economics degrees perfectly. Unfortunately, employment patterns in the other three countries are inconsistent with the degree cycle. The explanation that fits the economic degree pattern best is interest in business education.     

Classroom Games: The Allocation of Renewable Resources Under Different Property Rights and Regulation Schemes

The authors describe a renewable resource allocation game designed to stimulate students' interest in and understanding of market failure associated with open-access types of resource use. They also use the game to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various property rights and regulation schemes. Because this exercise demonstrates the power of unregulated and regulated economic incentives, many types of students may benefit from this game, including undergraduates enrolled in the standard introductory and in more advanced microeconomics classes, as well as courses in environmental economics and natural resource economics. This game was specifically designed so that noneconomics majors in natural resource management and environmental courses could also benefit.