IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/easeco/v48y2022i2d10.1057_s41302-021-00205-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing Learning in College Economics: A Sixth National Quinquennial Survey

Author

Listed:
  • Cynthia Harter

    (Eastern Kentucky University)

  • Rebecca G. Chambers

    (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia)

  • Carlos J. Asarta

    (University of Delaware)

Abstract

This article presents the first report of basic assessment method findings from the 2020 national quinquennial survey on teaching and assessment methods in college economics. Focused on the methods used in the same four types of economics courses surveyed since 1995, the authors find that the primary assessment method in introductory courses remains multiple-choice examinations, with their average weight in determining students’ grades increasing since 2010. Intermediate theory, statistics and econometrics, and other upper-division field economics courses rely primarily on short-answer exam questions for determining students’ grades. Overall, the authors report notable changes in assessing learning in college economics, with a more balanced approach to using different assessment methods in upper-division economics courses as compared to other economics courses.

Suggested Citation

  • Cynthia Harter & Rebecca G. Chambers & Carlos J. Asarta, 2022. "Assessing Learning in College Economics: A Sixth National Quinquennial Survey," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 48(2), pages 251-266, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:easeco:v:48:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1057_s41302-021-00205-8
    DOI: 10.1057/s41302-021-00205-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41302-021-00205-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41302-021-00205-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Watts & William E. Becker, 2008. "A Little More than Chalk and Talk: Results from a Third National Survey of Teaching Methods in Undergraduate Economics Courses," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(3), pages 273-286, July.
    2. William E. Becker & Michael Watts, 2001. "Teaching Economics at the Start of the 21st Century: Still Chalk-and-Talk," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(2), pages 446-451, May.
    3. Georg Schaur & Michael Watts & William E. Becker, 2008. "Assessment Practices and Trends in Undergraduate Economics Courses," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(2), pages 552-556, May.
    4. Amanda Bayer & Cecilia Elena Rouse, 2016. "Diversity in the Economics Profession: A New Attack on an Old Problem," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(4), pages 221-242, Fall.
    5. Amanda Bayer & Gregory Bruich & Raj Chetty & Andrew Housiaux, 2020. "Expanding and diversifying the pool of undergraduates who study economics: Insights from a new introductory course at Harvard," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(3-4), pages 364-379, September.
    6. Michael Watts & Georg Schaur, 2011. "Teaching and Assessment Methods in Undergraduate Economics: A Fourth National Quinquennial Survey," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(3), pages 294-309, July.
    7. Becker, William E & Watts, Michael, 1996. "Chalk and Talk: A National Survey on Teaching Undergraduate Economics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(2), pages 448-453, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Diego Mendez-Carbajo, 2023. "The Effectiveness of Logical Distractors in an Online Module," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 49(1), pages 15-30, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cynthia Harter & Georg Schaur & Michael Watts, 2015. "School, department, and instructor determinants of teaching methods in undergraduate economics courses," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 81(4), pages 1169-1188, April.
    2. Klein, Alina F. & Klein, Rudolf F., 2023. "Principles of Economics, the Survivor Edition," Applied Economics Teaching Resources (AETR), Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 5(2), March.
    3. Ahlstrom, Laura J. & Harter, Cynthia & Asarta, Carlos J., 2023. "Teaching methods and materials in undergraduate economics courses: School, instructor, and department effects," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    4. A. Arrighetti & A. Lasagni, 2018. "Insegnare Economia Industriale ‘in a digital age’," Economics Department Working Papers 2018-EP06, Department of Economics, Parma University (Italy).
    5. Scott A. Wolla, 2018. "Yours, Mine, and the Truth: Using a Structured Minimum Wage Debate in the Economics Classroom," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 63(2), pages 245-259, October.
    6. Anna Maximova & Steve Muchiri & Mihai Paraschiv, 2023. "A Stroll Down the Dollar Street: Teaching Per-Capita GDP Using Internationally Comparable Photographs," Journal of Economics Teaching, Journal of Economics Teaching, vol. 8(2), pages 87-113, May.
    7. Amanda Mandzik, 2023. "All I Want for Christmas is an A on My Econ Final: A Holiday-Themed Review Class," Journal of Economics Teaching, Journal of Economics Teaching, vol. 8(2), pages 72-86, May.
    8. Lester Hadsell & Raymond MacDermott, 2012. "Faculty Perceptions of Grades: Results from a National Survey of Economics Faculty," International Review of Economic Education, Economics Network, University of Bristol, vol. 11(1), pages 16-35.
    9. Franklin G. Mixon & Richard J. Cebula (ed.), 2014. "New Developments in Economic Education," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15538.
    10. KimMarie McGoldrick, 2010. "Advancing the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Economics," Chapters, in: Michael K. Salemi & William B. Walstad (ed.), Teaching Innovations in Economics, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Cynthia Harter & Carlos J. Asarta, 2022. "Teaching Methods in Undergraduate Intermediate Theory, Statistics and Econometrics, and Other Upper-Division Economics Courses: Results From a Sixth National Quinquennial Survey," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 67(1), pages 132-146, March.
    12. Amanda Mandzik, 2022. "Once Upon an Economics Course: Using Fairy Tales to Teach Economics," Journal of Economics Teaching, Journal of Economics Teaching, vol. 7(3), pages 147-161, October.
    13. KimMarie McGoldrick & Janice Peterson, 2009. "Public Scholarship and Economics: Engaging Students in the Democratic Process," Forum for Social Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(2-3), pages 229-245, January.
    14. Costas Siriopoulos & Gerasimos Pomonis, 2009. "Selecting Strategies to Foster Economists' Critical Thinking Skills: A Quantile Regression Approach," International Review of Economic Education, Economics Network, University of Bristol, vol. 8(1), pages 106-131.
    15. Rousu, Matthew C. & Melichar, Mark & Hackenberry, Bailey, 2021. "Using Music to Teach Agricultural, Applied, and Environmental Economics," Applied Economics Teaching Resources (AETR), Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 3(4), November.
    16. Nungsari, Melati & Flanders, Sam, 2020. "Using classroom games to teach core concepts in market design, matching theory, and platform theory," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
    17. Carrasco-Gallego, José A., 2017. "Introducing economics to millennials," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 19-29.
    18. Martinez, Gabriel X., 2023. "Studying like a nerd: Spacing, self-testing, and explanatory questioning in principles of microeconomics," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    19. Cynthia L. Harter & William E. Becker & Michael Watts, 2011. "Time Allocations and Reward Structures for US Academic Economists from 1955–2005: Evidence from Three National Surveys," International Review of Economic Education, Economics Network, University of Bristol, vol. 10(2), pages 6-27.
    20. Rita A. Balaban & Donna B. Gilleskie & Uyen Tran, 2016. "A quantitative evaluation of the flipped classroom in a large lecture principles of economics course," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(4), pages 269-287, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Assessment methods; Undergraduate economics; Quinquennial survey;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A20 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - General
    • A22 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Undergraduate

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:easeco:v:48:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1057_s41302-021-00205-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.