Describes how economists have typically used literary works and viewed their authors. Provides a selection of literary treatments of economic concepts, issues, and themes as resources for high school and university economics instructors. Comments on the scope and diversity of these materials. Includes a bibliography of literary works with…

In Australia, the authors learned it is common to ask one or more conference participants to summarize and assess the conference in a final "closing" session. They found the experience of serving as "closers" strangely similar to what students are asked to do in providing an overall assessment of a course or instructor at the…

The National Center for Educational Statistics' Baccalaureate and Beyond (B and B) Longitudinal Study followed a nationally representative sample of approximately 11,000 students after their graduation in the 1992-93 academic year, with interviews conducted in 1994 and 1997. Approximately 1,700 graduates reported working as teachers at some time…

Reports information concerning scope and sequence of economics education gathered by a survey of members of the Social Studies Supervisors Association and the Council of State Social Studies Specialists. Responses are compared with those of classroom teachers and college-level faculty. Suggests that a national K-12 economics curriculum is…

How much time do academic economists allocate to teaching, research, and service, and how much time do their departments want them to allocate to these pursuits? As a result of the decline in economics majors in the early 1990s, was there a change in the reward system and time allocation of academic economists toward teaching? In this study, the…

This book opens with an exploration of the fundamental trilogy of economics - scarcity, choice, and cost. Students then examine the broad social goals of an economy in preparation for lessons treating many topics new to the precollege level such as the stock market, public choice, and aggregate supply and demand. The set of 20 lessons include: (1)…

Finds through surveys in 1995 and 2000 that, despite some indications of increased emphasis and interest in teaching over this period, the teaching methods in economics courses have changed very little over the past five years and are still dominated by chalk and talk classroom presentations. (RLH)

This study measured the effects of specified variables on student knowledge of economics before taking an economics course and the effects of an enlarged set of variables on knowledge gained from taking the course. The pretest included 5,300 students from 200 classes in 150 randomly selected Indiana schools. Missing data and missing students…

Describes the results of a survey that examines the different approaches to the scope and sequence issue in economic education on the precollege level. Concludes that there is enough agreement among the groups studied to develop a plan as a guide to further curriculum development in this area. (RKM)

The picture that emerges from a review of survey findings is disturbing: instruction in economics tends to be minimal (or nonexistent) for many precollege students, and teacher training in economics is limited. Curriculum structure, teacher training, and the development and use of economics materials are interrelated problems facing economics…

Expounds on the relationship between instructor assessments of their teaching and their student assessments. Finds that instructors who speak English as their native language favorably rate their own speaking ability and enthusiasm, while students care more about instructor preparation for class and grading rigor. (RLH)

The "Focus" series, part of the National Council on Economic Education's (NCEE) EconomicsAmerica program, uses economics to enhance learning in subjects such as history, geography, civics, and personal finance, as well as economics. Activities are interactive, reflecting the belief that students learn best through active, highly personalized…

Deals with the restructuring of undergraduate economics instruction at Russia's Moscow State University (MSU) since 1989. Examines how changes at MSU are reflected at Belarus State University and at Kiev State University. Considers issues such as training of faculty members, and the use of translated Western textbooks. (RLH)

Effects of various student, teacher, and school system characteristics on levels of student economic understanding and learning in grades five-12 were studied. Particular attention was paid to which schools were participating in the Developmental Economic Education Program (DEEP). (Author/RM)

The "National Survey of Economic Education 1981" presented an overly optimistic view of the status of economic education which is not substantiated by a careful review of national and state data or the many recent national surveys on precollegiate education. This review of both national and state survey data indicates problems in both…