International Review of Economics Education最新文献

This paper puts forth a systematic approach to teaching fiscal-monetary interactions that follows the view of one of the fathers of the Fiscal Theory of the Price Level (FTPL), Eric Leeper. The main advantage of this setup is its simplicity, which makes it particularly suited for undergraduates and non-specialists. It relies on a two-graph device to show that fiscal and monetary policies always get determined simultaneously and that their effects on the economy always depend on one another’s behavior. It is straightforward to see that in a conventional monetarist world (Regime M), the central bank succeeds in controling inflation so long as the fiscal authority does its job of ensuring that public debt does not grow too much. By contrast, in an alternative fiscal-dominant regime (Regime F), fiscal policy determines the price level (and inflation) in the short run, and the optimal monetary stance is holding the policy rate constant, since if the central bank otherwise tries to fight back fiscally determined inflation, it will worsen fiscal sustainability and increase future inflation.

Instructors have used real-world problems in introductory economics classrooms for over three decades, but today’s students continue to perceive that economics is not relevant for their lives. I provide three teaching modules associated with pollution externalities designed to improve student perceptions of relevance and make the study of environmental problems “more useful for more people.” I provide a new context-rich problem that helps students make a personal connection with local environmental quality indicators. Two additional modules are included. The second module engages students with the interdisciplinary field of environmental justice. The third module explains how a Nobel Prize winner Ronald Coase’s influential and controversial insight about reciprocal harm can help encourage critical thinking about negative externalities in a world with transaction costs. In such a world, the module focuses on the legal system's role and Coase’s overlooked view that factors other than efficiency should be considered. Finally, I include supplementary materials and tips for instructors wishing to use one or more modules in their classrooms.

In the Principles of Microeconomics course taught during the Fall Semester 2019, 88 students participated in the completion of two questionnaires and a survey describing their demographic and academic profile. The two questionnaires included the 29 items of the Rotter Locus of Control Scale and the 10 items of the Schwarzer & Jerusalem Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale. The paper is intended to show that locus of control and self-efficacy are two distinct constructs not only in their influence on student performance but also in their student profile interaction. Using the Locus of Control Scale, the class was divided by a median split of 12 into two equal-sized groups. The results show that internals (lower score) had a higher average exam score, had a higher cumulative GPA score, spent more time working, attended classes more often, and scored higher on the self-efficacy scale than externals (higher score). Using the Self-Efficacy Scale and dividing the class by a median split of 3.2 into equal-sized groups, high self-efficacy students had a higher average exam score, took more high school economics courses, and were internally oriented, as compared to the low self-efficacy students. Of the 88 students participating in the survey, 30 students were identified as having both low locus of control and high self-efficacy and 33 students were identified of having both high locus of control and low self-efficacy. The results show that the 30 students had a higher average exam score, had a higher cumulative GPA score, were more of white ethnicity, and took more high school economics courses, as compared to the 33 students. For the whole sample, the correlation coefficient between locus of control and self-efficacy groups is negative and highly significant. The regression results show that the locus of control variable has a negative and significant effect, while the self-efficacy score has a positive and significant effect on the exam average. The adjusted R square value increased markedly with the addition of both locus of control and self-efficacy variables to the regression equation.

In this paper, we present the features and discuss the results of an innovative technique of teaching economics through theatrical readings, that is writing and staging plays addressing economic issues. We have applied this method to engage students, promoting the understanding of economic principles and encouraging critical reflection. Theatre is a powerful tool that favours the dissemination of economic issues, because it brings about an emotional involvement of the performers and the audience. Theatre allows emotions to improve learning; these are usually neglected in economics pedagogy. We have verified that theatrical readings represent a fruitful complement to the usual ‘chalk and talk’ lectures based on textbooks. Public readings in courses of Economics have given significant results in terms of students’ satisfaction and final marks, especially when the students’ experience encompasses writing plays and staging them. Students who participated in the activities of writing and staging economic plays have shown better knowledge of economic issues and have broadened their abilities in teamwork and public speaking. Moreover, another advantage of using theatre as a learning instrument is that it allows the performers and the audience to compare different visions in dialogical form. Finally, we explain how to introduce this pedagogical practice in courses by sharing our experience and presenting two scripts.

This paper describes a classroom experiment that facilitates a discussion of different economic ideologies and of the beliefs held by conservative and liberal economists. The experiment tests whether students tend to associate with like-minded friends more than with students who have different economic ideologies. The results of the experiment suggest that students are closer in ideology to their friends than to other students. The difference in the ideological gap between friends and the gap between random students is statistically significant but is not large in magnitude. The experiment allows the professor to introduce the topic of ideological sorting and its important consequences for individuals in their trust for others and in how extreme their political beliefs become. Sorting can also contribute to confirmation bias, which makes it difficult for students to update their views in response to new information. By discussing ideological sorting in the context of the experiment, professors can help students to improve their ability to seek out and process new information even when it contradicts their previously-held beliefs.

There is much debate as to why economics students display more self-interested behavior than other students: whether homo economicus self-select into economics or students are instead “indoctrinated” by economics learning, and whether these effects impact on preferences or beliefs about others’ behavior. Using a classroom survey (n > 500) with novel behavioral questions we show that, compared to students in other majors, econ students report being: (i) more self-interested (in particular, less compassionate or averse to advantageous inequality) already in the first year and the difference remains among more senior students; (ii) more likely to think that people will be unwilling to work if unemployment benefits increase (thus, endorsing the standard neoclassical view about others and the market), but only among senior students. These results suggest self-selection in preferences and indoctrination in beliefs.

This research attempts to investigate the level of acceptance of economics learning media through movie scenes using the Technological Acceptance Model (TAM) approach. Data were obtained using a Likert scale questionnaire from 396 students of the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education in Surakarta, Central Java, who had taken the learning media course. Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with reflective constructs was employed as the analysis method. The variables studied including Perceived Ease of Use (PEU), Perceived Usefulness (PU), Attitude Toward using (ATU), and Behavioral Intention to Use (BIU). The results showed a significant relationship in all direct effects and indirect effects studied. This study also found that the Perceived Ease of Use learning media movie scene had the greatest influence on the construct. The construct was also recognized to have strong predictive relevance to Behavioral intention to use. The findings imply that in order to be approved by teachers, learning media developers must pay attention to teacher perceptions of ease of use. This research contributes to TAM research in the field of education with PLS-SEM analysis to the stage of predictive relevance.