{"title":"A mixed methods evaluation of online discussion tools in higher education","authors":"Alex Squires, Dan Rigby","doi":"10.1016/j.iree.2024.100298","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iree.2024.100298","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We present a mixed methods comparative assessment of three online discussion tools widely used in higher education. We combine different data types (quantitative, qualitative) and sources (usage data, survey responses) to assess Piazza, Padlet, and Blackboard discussion boards. We highlight and discuss the differences between, and relative merits of, the tools and report the preferences of students on a large introductory Economics unit for them. We summarise lessons learnt from using the tools and make recommendations to engender greater student engagement with online discussion spaces.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45496,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Economics Education","volume":"47 ","pages":"Article 100298"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2024-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1477388024000161/pdfft?md5=fa53615608b6dabbe802c17203cb738d&pid=1-s2.0-S1477388024000161-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141630084","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Markus Fritsch , Andrew Adrian Yu Pua , Joachim Schnurbus
{"title":"Teaching advanced topics in econometrics using introductory textbooks: The case of dynamic panel data methods","authors":"Markus Fritsch , Andrew Adrian Yu Pua , Joachim Schnurbus","doi":"10.1016/j.iree.2024.100297","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iree.2024.100297","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We show how to use the introductory econometrics textbook by <span><span>Stock and Watson (2019)</span></span> as a starting point for teaching and studying dynamic panel data methods. The materials are intended for undergraduate students taking their second econometrics course, undergraduate students in seminar-type courses, independent study courses, capstone, or thesis projects, and beginning graduate students in a research methods course. First, we distill the methodological core necessary to understand dynamic panel data methods. Second, we design an empirical and a theoretical case study to highlight the capabilities, downsides, and hazards of the method. The empirical case study is based on the cigarette demand example in <span><span>Stock and Watson (2019)</span></span> and illustrates that economic and methodological issues are interrelated. The theoretical case study shows how to evaluate current empirical practices from a theoretical standpoint. We designed both case studies to boost students’ confidence in working with technical material and to provide instructors with more opportunities to let students develop econometric thinking and to actively communicate with applied economists. Although we focus on <span><span>Stock and Watson (2019)</span></span> and the statistical software <em>R</em>, we also show how to modify the material for use with another introductory textbook by <span><span>Wooldridge (2020)</span></span> and Stata, and highlight some possible further pathways for instructors and students to reuse and extend our materials.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45496,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Economics Education","volume":"47 ","pages":"Article 100297"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2024-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S147738802400015X/pdfft?md5=81c7fa3b3a9c3cf1de50e882b110dd62&pid=1-s2.0-S147738802400015X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141700156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A picture is worth a thousand words: The effectiveness of infographics in microeconomic principles courses","authors":"Lauren Calimeris , Edward Kosack","doi":"10.1016/j.iree.2024.100300","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iree.2024.100300","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We investigate the impact of infographics on student learning in principles of economics classes. Infographics display facts, data, and information about a specific topic in a clear and easy to understand manner, using graphics and pictures to help summarize, explain, and display information. Creating an infographic can be a fun, engaging, and powerful educational tool for learning new topics in both introductory and advanced courses. We use a randomized classroom experiment to evaluate the effect of creating infographics on student learning in principles of microeconomics courses as measured by exam performance. The randomization across topics enables a student-fixed effects estimation of the effect of infographics. We find students were 2.1–2.2 percentage points more likely to answer a multiple-choice question correctly relating to the topics for which they completed an infographic relative to those they did not. We provide suggestive evidence that infographics may help higher ability students most, increasing their scores on both multiple choice and short answer questions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45496,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Economics Education","volume":"47 ","pages":"Article 100300"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2024-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141605521","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Simon D. Halliday , Christopher Makler , Douglas McKee , Anastasia Papadopoulou
{"title":"Improving student comprehension through interactive model visualization","authors":"Simon D. Halliday , Christopher Makler , Douglas McKee , Anastasia Papadopoulou","doi":"10.1016/j.iree.2024.100296","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iree.2024.100296","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>A large literature has shown that novices and experts across the STEM disciplines differ markedly in how they approach and solve problems. Many STEM education scholars find that giving students scaffolded exercises in which they work with a visualization tool can be highly effective in teaching novices to think more like experts. Using model visualization software developed for EconGraphs, we have created three custom collections of interactive exercises for use in microeconomics courses at three institutions, two in the US and one in the UK. Based on surveys of the students (n=71, 167, and 57 respectively at the three institutions), students found the new exercises helpful. Additional analysis at two of the institutions suggests that the exercises were more likely to be valued by students with weaker math skills, students with weaker introductory microeconomics skills, and, in some cases, students who agreed that economics was interesting and applicable to their daily lives. The contributions of this paper are to illustrate how the free content from EconGraphs and the associated authoring tools may be used to create exercises that enhance the teaching and learning experience at a range of institutions; to provide the exercises themselves as a public good; and to invite further innovation and investigation in this area.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45496,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Economics Education","volume":"47 ","pages":"Article 100296"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2024-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1477388024000148/pdfft?md5=0abd9668b41142b011e2d1a00251e8ee&pid=1-s2.0-S1477388024000148-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141582039","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tomasz Gajderowicz, Leszek Wincenciak, Gabriela Grotkowska
{"title":"How much does a higher education in economics cost? DCE evaluation of the individual (dis)utility of studying","authors":"Tomasz Gajderowicz, Leszek Wincenciak, Gabriela Grotkowska","doi":"10.1016/j.iree.2024.100294","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iree.2024.100294","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The paper adds to the literature on the costs of higher education by estimating an individualised valuation of time spent studying. This valuation, in addition to the direct costs and the forgone earnings, allows us to assess the overall costs of undertaking higher studies, which is crucial for accurately estimating the rate of return to education and understanding the mechanisms of human capital accumulation. We use a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to evaluate the disutility of time spent studying by a group of students of economics in a leading Central European university. We investigate the heterogeneity of preferences towards time allocation across genders. We estimate the parameters of the students’ utility function assuming a random utility model using multinomial logit (MNL) and random parameter logit (RPL). We found that for students of economics studying for an additional hour resulted in a disutility worth around EUR 2.95, which is a rough equivalent of the minimum net hourly wage rate in Poland. This value is however higher than the value attributed to the disutility related to an hour spent at work. The estimated value was strongly heterogeneous, depending on students’ personal characteristics.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45496,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Economics Education","volume":"47 ","pages":"Article 100294"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2024-06-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141482848","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Strengthening the writing component in upper level economics electives","authors":"Helen Schneider","doi":"10.1016/j.iree.2024.100290","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iree.2024.100290","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Writing-intensive economics courses are courses that use writing as a central feature of instruction and evaluation of students’ work. This study presents and evaluates teaching improvements on these basic structures. Using teaching evaluations data from eight public finance sections taught between Fall of 2012 and Spring of 2019, an ordered probit model estimates the value, as rated by students, of the following improvements to enhance the writing quality of student papers: (1) explicit grading rubrics; (2) funding a dedicated course specialist consultant (CSC) from the writing center; (3) engaging librarians in creating a literature review guide; (4) instructor blogging. The empirical model estimates the contribution of the improvements to the overall instructor and course evaluation ratings as well as to the writing component student ratings. Empirical results show that grading rubrics had a statistically significant positive effect on student assessments of writing component design and writing skills development. Engaging a dedicated CSC improves writing skills ratings. Instructor blogging had a statistically significant positive effect on instructor ratings while literature review guide improved course ratings. Only an expected grade had a significant positive effect on all student rated course outcomes. The goal of this paper is to provide ideas for enhancing economics content through writing.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45496,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Economics Education","volume":"46 ","pages":"Article 100290"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-05-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141132857","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The death of exams? Grade inflation and student satisfaction when coursework replaces exams","authors":"Petar Stankov","doi":"10.1016/j.iree.2024.100289","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iree.2024.100289","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>A mid-sized advanced undergraduate economics module has undergone an assessment reform, where a typical 60% final exam was replaced by four scaffolded coursework assignments, each carrying a 15% weight in the final grade. As a result, student satisfaction with assessment and feedback went up at the expense of higher staff workload. In addition, the reform raised the final grades over and above the increase typically associated with an improvement in learning and engagement, effectively triggering grade inflation. The paper identifies the coursework assignment that inflated the grades. It then proceeds with grade simulations, whose purpose is to formulate an assessment reform agenda aiming to maintain high student satisfaction, disinflate grades, and stabilise staff workload. Finally, the paper evaluates the scalability of assessment reforms where final exams are targeted for replacement by coursework assessments. The evaluation suggests caution with such reforms, if they are necessary in the first place. They may both be feasible and desirable in small classes, but compelling arguments caution against a premature wholesale rollout.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45496,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Economics Education","volume":"46 ","pages":"Article 100289"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1477388024000070/pdfft?md5=442c6c88d57bc0fb5c143dc4bead0509&pid=1-s2.0-S1477388024000070-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140948358","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Are we doing homework wrong? The marginal effect of homework using spaced repetition","authors":"Alan Green","doi":"10.1016/j.iree.2024.100288","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iree.2024.100288","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>While assigning homework in college courses is supported by both psychological research on memory and studies of economics classes, research examining the marginal effect of homework scores on exam performance generally shows insignificant results. These weak marginal effects may be due to the number of times students repeat the work and how spread out they are; the few studies that show positive marginal effects of homework performance use at least three spaced repetitions. This study evaluates a spaced repetition model of short homework assignments repeated at increasing intervals in intermediate microeconomics. Results show a positive significant marginal effect; students who did better on the homework assignments scored higher on both in class exams and a cumulative final. The implication is that the simple change of structuring homework assignments with additional spaced repetitions may significantly improve learning.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45496,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Economics Education","volume":"46 ","pages":"Article 100288"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140188140","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Can instruction in consumer choice theory in introduction to microeconomics benefit student learning in upper-level economics courses? The example of public finance","authors":"Tin-Chun Lin","doi":"10.1016/j.iree.2024.100285","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iree.2024.100285","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Does teaching the theory of consumer choice in Introduction to Microeconomics enhance student learning in upper-level economics courses? In this study, a Public Finance course was selected as an example of an upper-level economics course. Results suggest that: (1) it can significantly benefit students in learning Public Finance when students learned about the topic (i.e., theory of consumer choice) in the Introduction to Microeconomics class within one year of enrolling in the Public Finance class; and (2) when the Public Finance instructor reviewed/taught the topic at the beginning of the semester, students who learned about the topic in the Introduction to Microeconomics class within one year of enrolling in the Public Finance class significantly performed better than other students who learned about the topic over one year before enrolling in the Public Finance class or never learned about the topic in the introduction class. Another interesting question emerged: who is responsible for teaching the topic — instructors who teach Introduction to Microeconomics or other faculty? While it seems reasonable to expect those who teach the Introduction to Microeconomics class to do so, some may not agree. We encourage further discussion of this topic among readers.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45496,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Economics Education","volume":"46 ","pages":"Article 100285"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139999958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Essays in economics in ICU: Resuscitate or pull the plug?","authors":"Kamilya Suleymenova, Mary Dawood, Maria Psyllou","doi":"10.1016/j.iree.2024.100284","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iree.2024.100284","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This study investigates the perspectives of Economics academics regarding the impact of using text-generative AI (GAI) on teaching and assessment in the UK higher education (UKHE) sector, with a specific focus on essays. The survey of academics’ perceptions encompasses considerations of academic integrity, transferrable skills, and ethical GAI use. The responses unveiled a range of significant findings regarding the present condition of essay-based assessment in Economics education. The most prominent of which is that, while GAI development has introduced a new conflict between integrity concerns and essay-writing, Economics academics confirm that the latter continues to be important to their graduates. However, there is an emphasis on reshaping the format of conventional essays and refining traditional marking criteria. Elevating assessment questions along Bloom’s taxonomy is deemed vital for critical thinking and producing future-ready graduates. Respondents also recognise the need to impart ethical awareness among students when using GAI while exploring innovative pedagogies to develop and assess the new GAI skill set. Thus, our study challenges the dichotomy of pulling the plug on conventional essays and, instead, prompts a critical re-evaluation—resuscitation through reimagination. Finally, most express interest in learning more about GAI and its educational applications, either through self-experimentation or structured events and GAI training. Overall, the study reveals a complex topography of perspectives, highlighting the need for subtle, collaborative approaches as academics carefully evaluate strategies to leverage GAI’s potential while evolving assessments and pedagogies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45496,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Economics Education","volume":"45 ","pages":"Article 100284"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1477388024000021/pdfft?md5=dfd26b2df4cebc72762df4c6b11be99d&pid=1-s2.0-S1477388024000021-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139731770","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}