The authors analyze the various factors that highly recognized economists cite as reasons for pursuing a career in economics. They obtained data for 62 of the 67 Nobel Laureates in economics and included another 22 prominent economists who have made significant contributions in economic research. The authors' basic quest was to discover how these…

In the fall of 2008, the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and St. Louis began a systematic evaluation of their economic and personal finance educational outreach programs. Both banks were interested in developing tools to assess the success of their existing economic and financial education programs. However, before any assessment could begin, a…

Without a Council for Economic Education affiliated state council, Mississippi lacked a formal economic education advocate for more than two decades. A new state council along with two university-based centers have recently undertaken an aggressive push to elevate the role and importance of economics in Mississippi's K-12 school systems. This…

Examined the effect of demographic characteristics, academic endowments, course preparation, and course performance variables on the accuracy of pretest expectations when asking students to predict their performance on a regularly scheduled macroeconomics midterm examination. Finds overconfidence and misjudgments about the scope of the midterm…

The authors examine the relationship between students' locus of control and their evaluation of teaching in a traditional principles of economics course. Locus of control is a psychological construct that identifies an individual's beliefs about the degree of personal control that can be exercised over his or her environment. Students with an…

Examines the role of economics in a business school curriculum from the perspective of student outcomes. Focuses upon an empirical analysis of the relationship between student understanding of basic economic principles and their success in an accredited business curriculum. (Author/JOW)

This final report details the results of an experimental program sponsored by the Mississippi State University (MSU) Special Teaching Projects Program which examined the effectiveness of video materials in a college economics classroom. The empirical results indicate that when video lessons are used as part of a course, students demonstrate…

Reports on an experiment that tested whether course length and concentration affect learning. Using the "Economics U$A" television series, compares student performance in two classes taught over differing time periods. Results implied that concentrated time periods for courses may lead to more concentrated student effort. (LS)

Examines the effect of unionization on high school economics teacher productivity measured by student performance on the Test of Economic Literacy (TEL). Finds that students in unionized school districts scored higher relative to students in nonunionized districts. Suggests these findings have implications for resource allocation. Includes tables…

Using a standard economics course as a control group, tests the relative effectiveness of "Economics U$A," a telecourse on student achievement and attitudes in both on-campus and off-campus settings. Concludes that the telecourse can be used successfully in nontraditional courses, and that delivery format may have an impact on student…

Reports on a study of the differences in economics education between private and public schools. Finds that public school students are less likely to be exposed to economic concepts prior to high school economics courses than private school students. (CFR)

Explores the relationship between publishing and a nonmonetary measure of academic employment success: job rank. Defines job rank as the relative position of an economist's department on the hierarchy of employers. Includes several tables and graphs showing statistical data. (MJP)