Academic departments assign different relative weights to the importance of teaching and research. Those weights are used in making decisions about promotion, tenure, and annual raises. Presumably, raising the teaching weight should encourage faculty to increase time on teaching. Using survey data from U.S. faculty in 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010,…

The authors provide a brief review of how economists have dealt with art in their research and more popular writings, and then consider the case that has been made for using art and other visual materials in general education and--in very few cases--to teach economics. A new Web site on Art and Economics is introduced that makes it easier for…

This review describes the conditions for teaching economics in the kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12) curriculum in U.S. schools. The first section presents data on course-taking in economics in high schools and state mandates for economics instruction. It discusses the value of the infusion approach to teaching economics either in place of…

Surveys in 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010 investigated teaching and assessment methods in different undergraduate courses. In this article, the authors offer basic results from the 2010 survey. "Chalk and talk" remains the dominant teaching style, but there were drops in mean (although not median) values for those pedagogies and some growth in the use…

Using data collected from graduates who attended four large public universities in 1976, 1986, or 1996, the authors investigate the relationship between studying economics and civic behaviors. They compare students who majored in economics, business, or other majors, and by the number of undergraduate economics courses completed. Coursework is…

Based on results from a 1999 national survey, William Becker and Michael Watts found that student evaluations of teaching were by far the most widely used, and often the only method used by economics departments, to evaluate teaching in undergraduate economics courses. To investigate whether departments of economics have moved beyond the use of…

In this article, the authors explain the purpose and context for the 2009 International Symposium on Economic Education that was the source for articles on four nations with relatively developed systems for economic education: Australia, England, Japan, and Korea. The authors highlight several key comparisons from the four articles that appear in…

Studies regularly link levels of educational attainment to civic behavior and attitudes, but only a few investigate the role played by specific coursework. Using data collected from students who attended one of four public universities in our study, we investigate the relationship between economics coursework and civic behavior after graduation.…

The authors list economic concepts and issues covered in the children's books published by Theodor Geisel and discuss his treatment of concepts that appear most often and that are treated in greater depth. Some concepts are sophisticated and taught as formal concepts only in college-level economics courses. Others are basic and used in economics…

The National Center for Educational Statistics' Baccalaureate and Beyond study, which had data from its second follow-up released in 1999, drew a nationally representative sample of approximately 11,000 graduates in the 1992-93 academic year. Using transcript data from the study, the authors report what economics courses students in different…

Little research in economic education has dealt with MBA programs. The authors investigated student performance in a microeconomics/managerial economics course taught in a one-year MBA program at the German International School of Management and Administration in Hanover, Germany, during the 2002-5 academic years. After controlling for other…

In 1995, 2000, and 2005, the authors surveyed U.S. academic economists to investigate how economics is taught in four different types of undergraduate courses at postsecondary institutions. They especially looked for any changes in teaching methods that occurred over this decade, when there were several prominent calls for economists and…

A review of relevant literature considers different views on ideological bias and what they offer economics teachers deciding what to teach and how to teach it. Particular emphasis is placed on: (1) determining the appropriate mix and sequencing of instruction on positive and normative ideas; (2) determining the amount of instructional time; and…

Reviews how economists use passages, plots, characters, themes, and ideas from literature and drama in their professional writings. Explains that literary passages describe human behavior and motivations; serve as evidence of the characteristics of a particular time and place; validate economists predictions and understanding of rational behavior;…

In 1979, Eric Hanushek pointed out a potential problem in estimating educational production functions, particularly at the precollege level. He observed that it is frequently inappropriate to include school-system variables in equations using the individual student as the unit of observation. This study offers limited evidence supporting this…