IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jeduce/v46y2015i1p14-27.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Improved Reasoning in Undergraduate Writing through Structured Workshops

Author

Listed:
  • Jason E. Dowd
  • Michelle P. Connolly
  • Robert J. Thompson
  • Julie A. Reynolds

Abstract

The Department of Economics at Duke University has endeavored to increase participation in undergraduate honors thesis research while ensuring a high-quality learning experience. Given the faculty-to-student ratio in the department (approximately 1:16), increasing research participation required the creation of a stable, replicable framework for mentoring students through research. The department aimed to make the research experience more consistent and interactive so that students also learned from each other in a group setting. Here, the authors assess the relationship between changes in mentoring support of honors research and students' scientific reasoning and writing skills reflected in their undergraduate theses. They find that students who participated in structured courses designed to support and enhance their research exhibited the strongest learning outcomes, as measured by systematic writing assessment.

Suggested Citation

  • Jason E. Dowd & Michelle P. Connolly & Robert J. Thompson & Julie A. Reynolds, 2015. "Improved Reasoning in Undergraduate Writing through Structured Workshops," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(1), pages 14-27, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jeduce:v:46:y:2015:i:1:p:14-27
    DOI: 10.1080/00220485.2014.978924
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00220485.2014.978924
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00220485.2014.978924?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. KimMarie McGoldrick, 2008. "Doing Economics: Enhancing Skills through a Process-Oriented Senior Research Course," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(4), pages 342-356, September.
    2. Gareth P. Green & John C. Bean & Dean J. Peterson, 2013. "Deep Learning in Intermediate Microeconomics: Using Scaffolding Assignments to Teach Theory and Promote Transfer," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(2), pages 142-157, June.
    3. Murray S. Simpson & Shireen E. Carroll, 1999. "Assignments for a Writing-Intensive Economics Course," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(4), pages 402-410, December.
    4. John J. Siegfried, 2001. "Principles for a Successful Undergraduate Economics Honors Program," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(2), pages 169-177, January.
    5. KimMarie McGoldrick, 2008. "Writing Requirements and Economic Research Opportunities in the Undergraduate Curriculum: Results from a Survey of Departmental Practices," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(3), pages 287-296, July.
    6. Dennis J. Palmini, 1996. "Using Rhetorical Cases to Teach Writing Skills and Enhance Economic Learning," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(3), pages 205-216, July.
    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. Ronald C. Fisher, 2019. "Illustrative Assignments to Incorporate Research and Writing in Introductory Economics Classes," Journal of Economics Teaching, Journal of Economics Teaching, vol. 4(1), pages 1-14, May.
    2. Gail M. Hoyt & KimMarie McGoldrick, 2017. "Promoting Undergraduate Research in Economics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(5), pages 655-659, May.
    3. Suandi & Entang Adhy Muhtar & Rd Ahmad Buchari & Darto, 2022. "The Evaluation of Village Fund Policy in Penukal Abab Lematang Ilir Regency (PALI), South Sumatera, Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-15, November.

    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. Ishuan Li & Robert Simonson, 2016. "Capstone senior research course in economics," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(2), pages 161-167, April.
    2. Joshua C. Hall & Kaitlyn R. Harger, 2014. "Teaching Students to "Do" Public Choice in an Undergraduate Public Sector Course," Working Papers 14-16, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    3. Li, Ishuan & Simonson, Robert D., 2016. "The value of a redesigned program and capstone course in economics," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 48-58.
    4. Dennis S. Edwards, . "An Economics Capstone Course from Creation to Presentation," Journal for Economic Educators, Middle Tennessee State University, Business and Economic Research Center.
    5. Gail M. Hoyt & KimMarie McGoldrick, 2017. "Promoting Undergraduate Research in Economics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(5), pages 655-659, May.
    6. Prakarsh Singh & Hongye Guo & Alvaro Morales, 2015. "A Research-Based Development Economics Course for Undergraduates," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(3), pages 274-284, July.
    7. William Bosshardt & Michael Watts & William E. Becker, 2013. "Course Requirements for Bachelor's Degrees in Economics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(3), pages 643-647, May.
    8. Christopher C. Klein, 2013. "Econometrics as a Capstone Course in Economics," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(3), pages 268-276, September.
    9. Katherine Schmeiser, 2017. "Teaching writing in economics," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(4), pages 254-264, October.
    10. Elsa Galarza Contreras & Marianne Johnson, 2007. "Internationalising Intermediate Microeconomics: Collaborative Case Studies and Web-Based Learning," International Review of Economic Education, Economics Network, University of Bristol, vol. 6(1), pages 9-26.
    11. 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.
    12. Jonathan B. Wight, 1999. "Using Electronic Data Tools in Writing Assignments," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 21-27, January.
    13. Grogan, Kelly A., 2017. "Will this be on the test? How exam structure affects perceptions of innovative assignments in a masters of science microeconomics course," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 1-8.
    14. Hall, Joshua C. & Podemska-Mikluch, Marta, 2015. "Teaching the economic way of thinking through Op-eds," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 13-21.
    15. Mary O. Borg & Harriet A. Stranahan, 2010. "Evidence On The Relationship Between Economics And Critical Thinking Skills," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 28(1), pages 80-93, January.
    16. Carlos J. Asarta & Roger B. Butters & Andrew Perumal, 2013. "Success in Economics Major: Is it Path Dependent?," Working Papers 13-11, University of Delaware, Department of Economics.
    17. Depro, Brooks & Rouse, Kathryn, 2022. "Adapting the case method in an economics capstone research course," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    18. John J. Siegfried & William B. Walstad, 2014. "Undergraduate Coursework in Economics: A Survey Perspective," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(2), pages 147-158, June.
    19. Cladera, Magdalena, 2021. "Assessing the attitudes of economics students towards econometrics," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    20. Ronald C. Fisher, 2019. "Illustrative Assignments to Incorporate Research and Writing in Introductory Economics Classes," Journal of Economics Teaching, Journal of Economics Teaching, vol. 4(1), pages 1-14, May.

    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:jeduce:v:46:y:2015:i:1:p:14-27. 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/VECE20 .

    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.