This paper analyzes the economic knowledge of high school students based on national data from 8,000 students who took the revised "Test of Economic Literacy," a nationally normed and standardized achievement test in economics. First, the validity and reliability features of the test are presented and then the test scores are broken down…

Cognitive and affective impacts of the "Give and Take" series on students and sources of differences in the impacts are investigated. "Give and Take," an audiovisual series on topics and concepts in personal economics for use in grades 9-10, consists of twelve 15-minute programs designed to help students increase their…

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…

The Test of Understanding in College Economics (TUCE) was delivered to a random sample of college students enrolled in 15 private and public institutions in Louisiana. The students took form A of the TUCE test before taking their first college course in economics and Form B of TUCE upon completing the course. Results showed that before taking a…

This paper discusses a survey undertaken to assess the attitudes of over 2,000 high school students towards economic issues and economics courses. The premise of the survey was that more studies evaluating economics instruction at the high school level overemphasize achievement and knowledge outcomes and fail to measure attitude outcomes. The…

It is believed that if primary grade children are exposed to the fundamentals of economics, they will be better able to comprehend and apply the principles in later years. This paper describes an inservice economics education training institute for elementary school teachers that integrates the following strategies: (1) an experienced-based…

This paper explores problems inherent in requiring elementary and secondary school social studies teachers to teach economics and be tested with regard to their knowledge of economics without requiring any academic preparation in economic education. Information is based on test scores of 34 elementary and secondary school Texas social studies…

This study explored the effect of experiential and experience-based approaches to learning and instruction on transitional first grade students' (a) acquisition and use of economic concepts and (b) economic reasoning ability as indicated by the presence or absence of misconceptions about economic concepts. A pretest-posttest control group design…

A study was conducted in Cuyahoga Community College's (Ohio) Principles of Economics classes to determine: (1) whether microcomputer-assisted instruction using tutorial/drill programs would significantly increase students' learning of economic concepts as measured by pre- and post-tests; (2) the relationship between demographic variables and pre-…

The development of economic reasoning in young children is examined from the theoretical perspective of Piaget's work on cognitive development. To determine a possible correlation between grade level and the type of reasoning children use to approach economic problems, 70 urban children, preschool through grade 3, answered questions which measured…

Situational theory was used to isolate two kinds of publics from a sample of 294 journalism and business students to determine whether journalism majors would fit better into different publics and use different cognitive strategies than would students more interested in or more favorable toward business. In contrast to the traditional "domino"…

This paper reviews selected research efforts conducted during the period 1968-78 related to high school economics. More than 17 studies, which were selected on the basis of appropriateness, replicability, representativeness, and relevance, are summarized. The studies are grouped into categories of instruction, attitudes, and student achievement…

Differences in levels of subject matter learning at the university level were explored to determine how a learning task is approached between those who are successful and those who are less successful. Students read a selected social science text, (Paul Samuelson's "Economics", for example), related the material learned, answered content…

The effectiveness of the simulation-gaming method of instruction as opposed to the lecture-discussion method in teaching a college introductory economics course is examined. One hundred and twenty Ashland College freshmen were tested to determine their knowledge, interest, and training in economics; retention of knowledge seven weeks after the…

Economic literacy and economic efficacy are addressed by examining basic goals and assumptions of economic education and by suggesting areas that need systematic attention and investigation. To clarify goals, an operational definition of economic literacy must be developed and used in a criterion-referenced testing instrument. A definition of…