Nan L. Maxwell

The Effectiveness of Problem-Based Instruction: A Comparative Study of Instructional Methods and Student Characteristics

Abstract This study compared the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) and traditional instructional approaches in developing high-school students’ macroeconomics knowledge and examined whether PBL was differentially effective with students demonstrating different levels of four aptitudes: verbal ability, interest in economics, preference for group work, and problem-solving efficacy. Over all, PBL was found to be a more effective instructional approach for teaching macroeconomics than traditional lecture–discussion (p = .05). Additional analyses provided evidence that PBL was more effective than traditional instruction with students of average verbal ability and below, students who were more interested in learning economics, and students who were most and least confident in their ability to solve problems. Recommended Citation Mergendoller, J. R. , Maxwell, N. L. , & Bellisimo, Y. (2006). The Effectiveness of Problem-Based Instruction: A Comparative Study of Instructional Methods and Student Characteristics. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 1(2). Available at: https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1026  Download

The Effect on Black-White Wage Differences of Differences in the Quantity and Quality of Education

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth for the years 1979–88, the author examines the extent to which black-white differences in educational attainment, educational quality, and unmeasured individual ability can explain black-white wage differences. An analysis that corrects for both selectivity and ability biases inherent in estimating the education-wage relationship shows that the main source of the black-white wage differential is the racial difference in the quality rather than quantity of schooling. In fact, the author concludes, closing the racial gap in the basic skills learned in school could reduce the wage differential by two-thirds.

Problem-Based Learning: Modifying the Medical School Model for Teaching High School Economics.

Abstract Many students enroll in high school economics thinking they will face a semester of dry, uninspiring information about vague principles that fall under the rubric of “the dismal science.” As late as 1960, “economics in the (high) schools simply was not accepted by college and university economists as a respectable area of professional concern.” Instruction in the course, if such a course existed, was “descriptive, dry and rarely included economic analysis.” The profession took note and, thirty years later, claimed dramatic improvements. More high school students took economics, and the high school course contained more analytic rigor and less description and often covered basic economic concepts. Furthermore, high school teachers were better prepared as a result of taking credit course work and attending non-credit programs in economics (Walstad 1992).

Step to college. Moving from the high school career academy through the 4-year university.

This study addresses the question “Do school-to-work programs, as embodied by career academies, facilitate postsecondary education?” The author conceptualizes postsecondary education as a series of steps through the university and examines the high school career academys influence on entrance into, route through, and outcomes from a 4-year university. Data are drawn from applicant and student records at a comprehensive, urban university for all individuals originating from a single districts high schools. The findings suggest that students from career academies have higher academic achievement upon leaving high school, less need for remediation in English at the university, and a 4-percentage-point increase in graduation from the university than students who are not from academies. These findings suggest that school-to-work programs could facilitate positive outcomes in postsecondary education. However, the continued high rates of remediation and the low rates of graduation, even for students from career academics, suggest that their influence might not be enough to ensure success in postsecondary education. This analysis therefore suggests that further research should identify program components that increase postsecondary education and determine how these components can be institutionalized and built on in subsequent reforms.

School-age mothers: 1968 and 1979.

There is evidence that pregnant high school girls who went on to have a 1st child were more likely to remain in school during their pregnancies in 1979 than in 1968. Among whites the proportion in school 5 months before delivery was 42% compared with 20%; among blacks it was 70% compared with 45%. In addition in 1979 a larger proportion of young women returned to school after birth: at 9 months following childbirth 17% of white mothers were enrolled in school in 1979 compared with only 5% in 1968; for black mothers the proportions were 39 and 15%. However among those who did not continue their education beyond high school larger proportions bore children while still in school or soon thereafter in 1979 than in 1968. These data suggest that the overall decline in teenage childbearing recorded for this period is attributable to those young people who obtained a higher education. More of the young mothers including those who dropped out and those who graduated were unmarried in 1979 than in 1968. A large majority of young black mothers lived with their parents or other relatives rather than with spouses. In 1979 23% of young white mothers who had graduated from high school but did not go on to college received public assistance of some kind compared with 32% of those who had dropped out of school. Among blacks 45% of high school graduates with children received public assistance compared with 74% of mothers who had dropped out. The labor force participation rate of women with children was much greater in 1979 (51% compared with 38% in 1968). But the unemployment rate among young mothers was much higher for both whites and blacks in 1979 and was particularly high among school dropouts. (authors modified)

Developing a problem-based learning simulation: An economics unit on trade

This article argues that the merger of simulations and problem-based learning (PBL) can enhance both active-learning strategies. Simulations benefit by using a PBL framework to promote student-directed learning and problem-solving skills to explain a simulated dilemma with multiple solutions. PBL benefits because simulations structure the information students receive to focus learning on the intended curriculum and increase the strategy’s effectiveness in a wider variety of venues. A combined strategy—a PBL simulation— places its simulation at the forefront of learning and helps students and teachers sift through the overwhelming complexity that can arise in a more pure PBL. The authors illustrate the strength of a PBL simulation with an economics unit on trade, titled THE GREAT AWAKENING.

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.

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.

English Language and Low-Skilled Jobs: The Structure of Employment

We use the Bay Area Longitudinal Surveys (BALS) to examine skill requirements, the joint use of English and non-language skills, and wages in low-skilled jobs. Results show that low-skilled jobs - even those open to workers with limited English - require English language skills. Furthermore, most make joint use of English and non-language skills with the ability of any specific English skill set to enhance varying with the job’s specific non-language skill required and industry.

High school career academies and post-secondary outcomes

Abstract This paper focuses on the outcomes associated with one type of school-to-work program, the career academy. By comparing the outcomes from career academy programs with those from more traditional programs, we evaluate their potential for improving the post-secondary experiences over students from more traditional curriculum programs. Using both single-district and national (across-district) databases, we show that the career academy has the potential for increasing education levels to those of students describing themselves as having followed an academic program. However, we show that the career academy may not be equally effective for all students, and other studies have shown that they carry relatively high marginal costs over more traditional programs. Thus, it may be that career academies should be offered as part of an array of high school programs to meet the educational needs of diverse student bodies and cost constraints of administrators.