Phillip Saunders

Teaching undergraduate economics : a handbook for instructors

INTRODUCTION1. The Teaching of Economics: An Introduction (William B. Walstad and Phillip Saunders)PART I. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF ECONOMICS INSTRUCTION2. Some Thoughts on the Micro Principles Course (Robert H. Frank)3. Some Thoughts on Teaching Principles of Macroeconomics (Michael J. Boskin)4. Reflections on the Principles Course (Compbell R. McConnell)5. Teaching Intermediate Economic Thoery (George Davis and O. Homer Erekson)6. The Goals and Objectives of the Economics Major (John J. Siegfried)PART II. FOUNDATIONS FOR TEACHING7. Teaching Economics: Inspiration and Persperation (Kenneth Elzinga)8. Learning Theory and Instructional Objectives (Phillip Saunders)9. Humanizing Content and Pedagogy in Economics Classrooms (Robin Bartlett and Marianne A. Ferber)10. The Use of Mathematics and Statistics in the Teaching and Learning of Economics (William Becker)11. Research on Teaching College Economics (John J. Siegfried and William B. Walstad)PART III. INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS IN ECONOMICS: LECTURES AND TEXTBOOKS12. Lectures as an Instructional Method (Phillip Saunders and Arthur L. Welsh)13. The Principle of Economics Textbook: Historym Content, and Use (William B. Walstad, Michael Watts, and William Bosshardt)DISCUSSION, WRITING, AND ACTIVE LEARNING14. Improving Classroom Discussion in Economics Courses (W. Lee Hansen and Michael K. Salemi)15. Student Writing as a Guide to Student Thinking (Jerry L. Petr)16. Active and Cooperative Learning Strategies for the Economics Classroom (Beverly Cameron)EXPERIMENTS AND TECHNOLOGY17. Experimental Economics in the Classroom18. Using Technology for Teaching Economics (William B. Walstad, Ann Harper Fender, Jean Fletcher, and Wayne Edwards)EVALUATION OF INSTRUCTION19. Multiple Choice Tests for the Economic Course (William B. Walstad)20. Essay Questions and Tests (Arthur L. Welsh and Phillip Saunders)TEACHING21. Using Videotaping for Teacher Development and Self-Evaluation (Michael K. Salemi and Alexander J. Cowell)22. Using Student and Faculty Evaluations of Teaching to Improve Economics Instruction (William B. Walstad and Phillip Saunders)

The Lasting Effects of Introductory Economics Courses

The so-called Stigler hypothesis suggested that students who have taken a conventional one-year economics course and those who have never had such a course, probably show little difference in test performance five years after completing college. This report is one of the more systematic efforts to test the validity of the Stigler hypothesis. Although it might be argued that Saunders did not directly address the challenge as put forth by Stigler, the results show that students do retain some of their knowledge of economics five years after graduation from college. The report also considers several variables related to retention and discusses methodological problems pertaining to this type of research.

Does High School Economics Have a Lasting Impact

Going beyond previous studies of the effectiveness of high school economics courses, Saunders reports on his research findings which suggest that “as one moves from the Recogrtition and Understanding questions … through the Simple Application questions to the Complex Application questions, the differences in favor of those with high school economics become smaller….” The implications of these results for the introductory college course are discussed, with some specific suggestions for the courses content and orientation.

The Lasting Effects of an Introductory Economics Course: An Exploratory Study.

How much learning is retained by students who took an introductory course two years earlier? What difference to retention is made by further study of economics? This exploration of lasting effects is crucially related to the Stigler article in this issue which asks whether or not there is a case for encouraging the spread of economic education.

The Hybrid TUCE: Origin, Data, and Limitations

Citing the numerous inquiries regarding the “hybrid” Test of Understanding in College Economics and noting that this test was developed for a “lasting effects” project, the authors discuss the origins of the Hybrid Tuce and call attention to its limitations. One of these is that the Hybrid is “thinner,” because its 33 questions are spread over a larger number of content areas. The Hybrid also has more “realistic” questions based on actual quotations or on utterances that could very well have been published.The Hybrid is also more policy-oriented, and the authors stress that it should not be used unless the course being taught closely reflects its emphasis. Properly used, it has proven to be more reliable and slightly easier for students who have previously had economics courses, but not significantly more difficult for those who have not.

Teacher Training Programs in College Economics: Their Development, Current Status, and Future Prospects

It is often charged that the basic principles course is badly taught, and that one reason for this is that teaching assistants or persons who have just received their Ph.D. degrees are given the job of introducing students to economics. The authors of this article have devoted several years to the development of a program to train graduate assistants and others in the hope of improving the teaching of the introductory course. In this article they give the history of the Teacher Training Program, briefly describe the TTP Resource Manual and other materials developed for use in training college teachers of economics, and suggest possible uses of their approach.

Macroeconomic Essentials for Media Interpretation

Part 1 Introduction: media economics up-and-down economics policy evaluation a picture can be worth a thousand words really important macroeconomics ideas. Part 2 Measuring GDP and inflation: what is GDP? - curiosity: what is the difference between GDP and GNP? estimating GDP real versus nominal GDP measuring inflation - curiosity: how do the GDP deflator and the CPI differ? the costs of inflation - what level of inflation should we aim for? GDP as gross deceptive product media illustrations. Appendix: measuring GDP by adding up incomes. Part 3 Unemployment: defining and measuring unemployment - curiosity: how to unemployment measured? the employment/ unemployment connection what is full employment? - curiosity: why is unemployment so high in Europe? the cost of unemployment - curiosity: what is Okuns law? media illustrations. Part 4 The Keynesian approach: aggregate demand - curiosity: what about unwanted investment in inventories? determining national income the multiplier - curiosity: what is the multiplier? inventories and forecasting policy implications - curiosity: what is a leading indicator? media illustrations. Appendices: macroeconomics before Keynes - the classical school the circular flow of income the 45 grades line diagram algebraic derivation of the multiplier. Part 5 The supply side: the aggregate supply curve the aggregate demand curve using the aggregate supply/aggregate demand diagram where is full employment? moving into a boom - curiosity: how do AD and AS curves differ from macroeconomic curves? moving into recession - curiosity: are real wages countercyclical? analyzing supply shocks supply-side economics - curiosity: what is real business-cycle theory? media illustrations. Appendix: deriving the AD curve. Part 6 Growth: the determinants of growth - curiosity: what is endogenous growth theory? the productivity growth process the role of national saving policy for growth - curiosity: why about foreign financing? media illustrations. Part 7 Crowding out: automatic stabilizers financing an increase in government spending - curiosity: what is the balanced-budget multiplier? media illustrations. Appendix: Ricardian equivalence. Part 8 The money supply: what is money? - curiosities: what is the Fed?, what is NOW account? fractional-reserve banking - curiosity: what are the legal reserve requirements? controlling the money supply the money multiplier - curiosity: how big is the money multiplier? media illustrations. Part 9 The monetarist rule: the quantity theory the modern quantity theory - curiosity: does excess money really affect spending? (Part contents).

A Research and Evaluation Agenda for DEEP and Precollege Economic Education: A Comment.

Begun in 1964, the Developmental Economic Education Program (DEEP) has been the primary instrument for involving K–12 schools in economic education. This article presents a research and evaluation agenda to determine the effectiveness of the DEEP effort. Comments on the agenda are offered by two authors who participated in the creation, implementation, and research on DEEP.