Jane S. Lopus

Effects of the High School Economics Curriculum on Learning in the College Principles Class.

Much has been written about whether taking a high school economics class affects initial knowledge and learning in college macro or micro principles classes. The results of several studies indicate that high school economics helps students in their college principles classes, whereas the results of other studies suggest that high school economics either has no effect or even puts students at a disadvantage in their college principles class. My contention is that these conflicting results may not reflect the quality of high school economics per se but may reflect the great variation in the content and curriculum of high school economics classes.

A Cost Effectiveness Analysis of Large and Small Classes in the University.

Using university cost data and student data collected from principles of economics classes at a medium-sized public university, this article analyzes a university policy to dramatically increase class size. We find that substantial monetary savings are realized by offering large classes. Although large classes do not produce a loss of learning, their students have a 38% decreased probability of enrolling in future economics classes. These results suggest that the monetary savings that universities receive from dramatically increasing class size may translate into a loss of enrollment for the university or an internal reallocation of resources between departments.

Do Additional Expenditures Increase Achievement in the High School Economics Class

Expenditures allocated directly to the economics classroom are found to increase student achievement in economics; the more disaggregated the measure of expenditures, the stronger the effect on student achievement.

Beyond High School: Does the High School Economics Curriculum Make a Difference?

Results from previous studies assessing the effect of high school economics courses on student performance in college economics courses have been inconclusive. We argue that this research fails to distinguish between high school economics courses that focus on traditional college macroeconomic and microeconomic topics and those that focus on less theoretical topics. We correct for this error by examining the relationship between the high school curriculum and knowledge of college-level economics. Although we find no evidence that students who studied high school economics are better equipped to study college economics than students who did not, we find that the curriculum does make a difference for students who have taken high school economics.

Effects of human subjects requirements on classroom research: multidisciplinary evidence.

Professors who include their students as subjects in classroom-based research projects typically must submit to a review by their universitys research ethics committee (REC) even in cases which present only minimal risks, and when the investigation is intended for evaluation of teaching approaches only, and not for publication. Results of a web-based survey with 378 respondents indicate that the perceived costs of the review process may outweigh the perceived benefits to subjects. A logistic regression analysis identifies the time it takes to complete the review application, the time it takes to receive a response, and the necessity of revising a project as significant factors in respondents viewing the REC process as a barrier to research. Instituting policies of expedited review for minimal-risk classroom research and exempting evaluations that are not to be published, both of which are permitted under the current regulations, would decrease burdens on both researchers and REC members, and foster improvement of teaching.

Ten Observations on High School Economics Textbooks

This study focuses on the content of eleven high school economics textbooks currently being used throughout the United States. We reviewed them with regard to their attention to the Voluntary National Standards in Economics developed under the auspices of the National Council on Economic Education. In the process of our analysis we made ten observations about these texts, including the statement that these books fall into one of two categories: large, encyclopedic volumes which we label as ‘Comprehensive’ or shorter books aimed at a specific audience which we label as ‘Specialty’ textbooks. While many of the texts have specific shortcomings, we see that the majority of them include more material than the national standards require. Overall there is less variation in the quality of high school textbooks today than was seen in earlier generations of texts; and we argue that the majority of the current crop of comprehensive high school economics texts provides a solid introduction to the economics discipline.

Human Subjects Requirements and Economic Education Researchers

This paper presents the results of a web-based survey of economic educators who were asked about their knowledge and experience with human subjects research and the mandated federal protocols that govern such research at most American universities. The results indicate that while economic education researchers are experienced in conducting human subjects research and are aware of the federal regulations, they are not well informed about key details of the regulations. They are skeptical of the net benefits of the mandated protocols because of the perceived discouraging burdens of the paperwork that rarely result in significant modifications of their research projects. The authors conclude that recent calls for modifications to the federal regulations for classroom-based research projects may be justified given the opportunity costs of adhering to the regulations compared to the relatively low levels of perceived benefits.

An Empirical Analysis of Alternative Assessment Strategies in the High School Economics Class

Three different assessment methods are used to determine the effectiveness of the curriculum package Open and Operating: The Federal Reserve Responds to September 11 in improving the economic knowledge of 1291 California high school students. Student performance is found to vary by race and gender depending on the assessment method used: multiple choice questions, an essay question, or a group creative poster activity. Consistent with prior studies, white male students perform better on the multiple choice questions. However, these gender and racial differences disappear for the essay instrument, and females and Asians outperform others on the group creative activity. Economists who work training high school teachers are encouraged to recommend that teachers use different assessment methods to encourage the success of different types of students.

Activity-Based Economics as Experimental Science

Recent papers emphasize moving beyond chalk and talk by using active learning strategies to teach principles of economics. Another literature emphasizes benefits of using active methods to teach economics at the high school level. A related literature, independently developed by 2002 Nobel Laureate Vernon Smith and others, formalizes experimental techniques for studying economic decision making, often using classrooms as laboratories. This paper analyzes active learning lessons designed for high schools against the criteria used in economics experiments designed by Smith and others. The conclusion is that activity-based lessons do a good job of satisfying the conditions sufficient for economic experiments. Those not satisfying the experimentalist conditions often require only modest revision to qualify or were never intended to be experiments in the first place.

Online Stock Market Games for High Schools.

Many high school economics teachers use an online stock market simulation to motivate students to use technology productively through learning to navigate educational Web sites and engaging in online research. The game encourages students to follow current events, learn basics of saving and investing, and stimulate interest in economics and how markets function. Many centers and councils for economic education affiliated with the National Council on Economic Education