George G. Dawson

Special Report: An Overview of Research in the Teaching of College Economics

About 460 studies of economic education at the college level have been made during the past seven years. Since this is twice the number of all previous studies of the teaching of college economics, it is clear that there is a growing interest in how we teach the college courses and how effective we are. The author of this special report suggests ways of categorizing those studies, and indicates the percentage of all studies falling in each category. This might help other researchers to note the areas in which the need for additional work is greatest.

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.

Personalizing instruction in business and economics

This paper examines personalized instruction in business and economics at the Long Island Learning Center, Empire State College, State University of New York. In this mode of instruction the course of study is tailored to the individual background, interests, needs, and abilities of the student. Learning activities often incorporate some aspect of the students academic or professional experience. Most of the students have fairly well-established goals, are highly motivated, have jobs, and have enjoyed considerable success in their fields. Various examples are provided that indicate how the subject matter gains relevance when basic theoretical concepts are applied to real-life situations.

Special Section: A Debate on Research Techniques in Economic Education

This Special Section represents a “first” for the JEE. In previous issues the “Communications” section has often included comments and criticisms of previously published articles, and authors of the original pieces have sometimes replied to these criticisms. Initially, the intention was to treat Beckers comment on Sopers article “Programmed Instruction in Large-Lecture Courses” (JEE, Spring 1973) in the conventional way. It was finally decided, however, that the exchange between Becker and Soper, and Highsmiths reaction to both papers, was important enough to merit special treatment. The research techniques discussed in the three papers should be of great interest to all who are involved in economic education research and, indeed, to all who read the reports of such research.