IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/edecon/v9y2001i3p313-326.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Instructor's Optimal Mix of Teaching Methods

Author

Listed:
  • Ross Guest

Abstract

This paper presents a model for determining the lecturer's optimal mix of teaching methods. The optimal mix balances the greater time cost of more active teaching methods against the increase in the quality of the learning outcomes that result. In the case of two students in a class, one active learner and one passive learner, the optimal teaching mix and the time that each student chooses to spend learning are jointly determined. The paper also shows that the response of the optimal teaching mix to changes in the learning technology depends on the instructor's (or the university's) utility function. A Benthemite utility function implies equal weighting for additional learning outcomes of 'academic' and 'non-academic' students. A Rawlsian utility function implies a higher weighting of additional learning outcomes of 'non-academic' students. These and other utility functions imply different optimal teaching mixes.

Suggested Citation

  • Ross Guest, 2001. "The Instructor's Optimal Mix of Teaching Methods," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(3), pages 313-326.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:edecon:v:9:y:2001:i:3:p:313-326
    DOI: 10.1080/09645290110086162
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09645290110086162
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/09645290110086162?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. Allgood, Sam, 2001. "Grade targets and teaching innovations," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 485-493, October.
    2. Huang, Cliff J., 1981. "Optimal allocation of faculty time under uncertainty in production," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 99-112, February.
    3. Becker, William E, Jr, 1982. "The Educational Process and Student Achievement Given Uncertainty in Measurement," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(1), pages 229-236, March.
    4. Rajshree Agarwal & A. Edward Day, 1998. "The Impact of the Internet on Economic Education," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(2), pages 99-110, June.
    5. Becker, William E, Jr, 1979. "Professorial Behavior Given a Stochastic Reward Structure," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 69(5), pages 1010-1017, December.
    6. Bacdayan, Andrew W., 1997. "A mathematical analysis of the learning production process and a model for determining what matters in education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 25-37, February.
    7. William E. Becker Jr., 1975. "The University Professor as a Utility Maximizer and Producer of Learning, Research, and Income," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 10(1), pages 107-115.
    8. Oosterbeek, Hessel, 1995. "Choosing the optimum mix of duration and effort in education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 253-263, September.
    9. McDonough, Carol C & Kannenberg, Lloyd C, 1977. "The Microeconomic Impact of a Reduction in Faculty Teaching Loads," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(28), pages 112-120, June.
    10. Cynthia Benzing & Paul Christ, 1997. "A Survey of Teaching Methods Among Economics Faculty," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(2), pages 182-188, June.
    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. Justin Ross, 2008. "A theoretical model of the distribution of teacher attention under benchmark testing," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 9(29), pages 1-8.
    2. Gomis-Porqueras, Pedro & Rodrigues-Neto, José A., 2018. "Teaching technologies, attendance, learning and the optimal level of access to online materials," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 329-342.
    3. Carmen Lamagna & Sheikh Selim, 2005. "Heterogeneous Students, Impartial Teaching and Optimal Allocation of Teaching Methods," General Economics and Teaching 0503011, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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. Carmen Lamagna & Sheikh Selim, 2005. "Heterogeneous Students, Impartial Teaching and Optimal Allocation of Teaching Methods," General Economics and Teaching 0503011, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Gomis-Porqueras, Pedro & Rodrigues-Neto, José A., 2018. "Teaching technologies, attendance, learning and the optimal level of access to online materials," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 329-342.
    3. Pedro Gomis-Porqueras & Juergen Meinecke & Jose A. Rodrigues-Neto, 2011. "New Technologies in Higher Education: Lower Attendance and Worse Learning Outcomes?," Agenda - A Journal of Policy Analysis and Reform, Australian National University, College of Business and Economics, School of Economics, vol. 18(1), pages 69-84.
    4. William E. Becker & Peter E. Kennedy, 2005. "Does Teaching Enhance Research in Economics?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(2), pages 172-176, May.
    5. William E. Becker & Peter E. Kennedy, 2006. "The Influence of Teaching on Research in Economics," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 72(3), pages 747-759, January.
    6. De Fraja, Gianni & Valbonesi, Paola, 2012. "The design of the university system," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(3), pages 317-330.
    7. Kiridaran Kanagaretnam & Robert Mathieu & Alex Thevaranjan, 2003. "An economic analysis of the use of student evaluations: implications for universities," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(1), pages 1-13.
    8. Massy, William F. & Zemsky, Robert, 1997. "A utility model for teaching load decisions in academic departments," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 349-365, October.
    9. Sam Allgood & William B. Walstad & John J. Siegfried, 2015. "Research on Teaching Economics to Undergraduates," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 53(2), pages 285-325, June.
    10. A. Arrighetti & A. Lasagni, 2018. "Insegnare Economia Industriale ‘in a digital age’," Economics Department Working Papers 2018-EP06, Department of Economics, Parma University (Italy).
    11. Maury E. Bredahl & W. Keith Bryant & Vernon W. Ruttan, 1980. "Behavior and Productivity Implications of Institutional and Project Funding of Research," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 62(3), pages 371-383.
    12. Aloys Prinz & Thomas Ehrmann, 2022. "Academia as a league system," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 92(7), pages 1065-1092, September.
    13. Piopiunik, Marc & Schwerdt, Guido & Woessmann, Ludger, 2013. "Central school exit exams and labor-market outcomes," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 93-108.
    14. Stephen B. Deloach & Steven A. Greenlaw, 2005. "Do Electronic Discussions Create Critical Thinking Spillovers?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 23(1), pages 149-163, January.
    15. Allgood, Sam, 2001. "Grade targets and teaching innovations," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 485-493, October.
    16. Christopher N. Annala & Shuo Chen & Daniel R. Strang, . "The Use of PRS in Introductory Microeconomics: Some Evidence on Performance and Attendance," Journal for Economic Educators, Middle Tennessee State University, Business and Economic Research Center.
    17. Dahlgran, Roger A., 2001. "Technology In The Agricultural Economics Classroom: Are We On The Right Path?," 2001 Annual Meeting, July 8-11, 2001, Logan, Utah 36175, Western Agricultural Economics Association.
    18. Fouad El Ouardighi & Konstantin Kogan & Radu Vranceanu, 2013. "Publish or Teach ? : Analysis of the Professor's Optimal Career Plan," Working Papers hal-00823514, HAL.
    19. Michael Ostrovsky & Michael Schwarz, 2010. "Information Disclosure and Unraveling in Matching Markets," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(2), pages 34-63, May.
    20. Becker, William E. & Powers, John R., 2001. "Student performance, attrition, and class size given missing student data," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 377-388, August.

    More about this item

    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:taf:edecon:v:9:y:2001:i:3:p:313-326. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CEDE20 .

    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.