This research provides evidence that the flipped classroom instructional format increases student final exam performance, relative to the traditional instructional format, in a large lecture principles of economics course. The authors find that the flipped classroom directly improves performance by 0.2 to 0.7 standardized deviations, depending on…

For many years, surveys have shown that lecture is the dominant method for teaching principles of economics (Watts and Schaur 2011; Watts and Becker 2008; Becker and Watts 1996, 2001a, b). The authors confirm this and augment it by asking why principles instructors teach the way they do. The respondents, 340 principles instructors at the 2012…

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…

What is the effect of small-group learning on student learning outcomes in economic instruction? In spring 2002 and fall 2004, the author applied cooperative learning to one section of intermediate macroeconomics and taught another section using a traditional lecture format. He identified and then tracked measures of student learning outcomes.…

Reported is the evaluation of a program in which lectures were integrated with programmed instruction assignments and a series of quizzes which concluded that PI can be an effective means of teaching large classes. (JB)

Describes a study which investigated the effectiveness of a simulation-gaming method of instruction to teach a college level introductory economics course. Also investigated were the interaction effects between student characteristics and the simulation-game as well as the lecture-discussion methods of instruction. (RM)

Comparisons are made between four college economic principles courses: one-semester live lectures, programed instruction, and televised lectures, and, two-semester televised lectures, the latter producing the greatest content learning. Opportunity costs and other implications are discussed. (DB)

Proposes using some of the 26 Nobel Prize lectures as teaching tools in economics courses. Notes lectures are reprinted in economic journals. Lists titles of lectures from 1969 to 1988; identifies level of difficulty; and categorizes the lectures by subject field. Outlines George Stigler's 1982 Nobel lecture and gives suggestions for teaching. (NL)

Describes team-taught courses in which the lectures of each team member are critiqued by other team members. Stresses that the result is a deeper, more critical analysis of each team member's material and of the interrelationship of their presentations. (DB)

University of Georgia Student Performance was measured by the Test of Understanding in College Economics pretest-posttest procedure with Part II Forms A and B. Both lecture and TV groups were lower than the national norm with the TV groups the lowest. (Author/SE)

Lectures that recapitulated the programed text used by two classes did not add to students' cognitive learning of microeconomic theory. Implications for college courses in economics are discussed. (DB)

Reviews research which compares the effectiveness of programed instruction (PI) in economics to lecture-discussion techniques. Studies demonstrate that students using PI perform as well on examinations as students using the traditional method. There is also some evidence that students using PI retain their learning better. (AM)

Fifteen sophomores, after 10 weeks of conventional instruction in a macroeconomics course were assigned programed instruction on money and banking for one week while the rest of the class (n equals 21) continued with the lectures. Post testing indicated greater gains from programed instruction. (DB)

This paper reports on an evaluation of the Sterling Institute self-paced macroeconomics course at Northern Illinois University. Results show that a completely self-paced teaching format for macroeconomics is inferior to a well-directed, concept-oriented, graduate-student instructed, lecture-discussion taught course. (Author/RM)

An evaluation of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) in economics showed that CAI does improve student scores but not significantly more than traditional assignments. Results indicated that CAI is better than just using lectures to teach economics, and that, while, CAI is not better than traditional assignments, it is not any worse. (RM)