The number of contact hours, one of the important institutional context factors, was examined and compared between Dutch and Vietnamese higher education at institute and student levels in Psychology and Business and/or Economics specializations. The quantity of contact hours per credit point given by institutions was investigated in a number of…

This paper reports on a pilot study that involved introducing writing tutors or writing fellows into a compulsory, third-year economics course with the intent of incorporating both writing across the curriculum and writing intensive elements. The connections and interrelationships between writing and writing intensive courses are set out briefly…

This paper reports experiment results of teaching large classes of introductory economics with modern learning technology such as MyEconLab or Aplia. This new technology emerges partially in response to the enrollment pressure currently facing many institutions of higher education. Among other things, the technology provides an integrated online…

One of the most important concepts being taught in principles classes is the idea of "thinking on the margin." It can also be one of the most difficult to get across. One of the most telling examples, according to this author, comes in trying to get students to learn the profit maximizing condition for perfectly competitive firms. She…

Globalization and increasing cross-cultural interactivity have implications for education in general and may also present valuable pedagogical opportunities in the practice of teaching economics for business students. Therefore, the author investigated this proposition and offers some empirical observations from research and teaching experiments.…

Problem based learning (PBL) is a recognised teaching and learning strategy used to engage students in deep rather than surface learning. It is also viewed as a successful strategy to align university courses with the real life professional work students are expected to undertake on graduation (Biggs, 2003). Problem based learning is practised…

This paper provides evidence indicating that experimental games can trigger a double dividend. The dividend, measured in terms of enhanced performance, accrues to both the students and to the instructor. The evidence for the instructor's dividend is obtained from evaluation questionnaires administered in an introductory microeconomics course at…

This work reports on the results obtained from the application of learning environments on the basis of one integrative problem and a series of other smaller problems that limit the contents to be investigated and learned by the students. This methodology, which is a variation to traditional problem-based learning approaches, is here illustrated…

The authors bring together two research streams in the literature that examine separately the effectiveness of using experiments in the principles classroom and the relationship between different personality types and student achievement. Using a sample of 255 principles of microeconomics students, 48 of whom were enrolled in sections that relied…

Students often exhibit overconfident grade expectations and tend to overestimate the actual course grade at the completion of a course. Current theories of student motivation suggest such overconfidence may lead students to study less than if they had accurate grade perceptions. The authors report the findings of a survey of students enrolled in…

The authors address two informal writing assignments implemented in introductory economics classes. One assignment involves students writing short reflection papers, and the other assignment involves students writing short journal entries for a designated period of time. Both assignments are designed to help students realize that economics is…

We determine how much observed student performance in microeconomics principles can be attributed, inferentially, to three kinds of student academic "productivity," the instructor, demographics, and unmeasurables. The empirical approach utilizes an ordered probit model that relates student performance in micro to grades in prior…

This paper presents a dialogue between an academic economist and an educational developer. It asks whether it is possible to teach in a way that works well for all students. The economist contends that teaching entails making a choice as to which students should benefit most--the more academically capable or the lower-achieving students. He sees…

We measure the distributive justice preferences of students within eight departments in the faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Turku, Finland. We use the Finnish government's annual budget and its specific appropriations as a proxy to measure the students' underlying preferences. We test whether the type of studies of the respondents…

The lack of adequate background and/or preparation, among other things, causes many students to withdraw from college or to graduate with low grades, which often makes it difficult for them to obtain suitable jobs. This paper examines the academic performance and efforts to seek assistance for academic and related problems of undergraduate…