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A Little More than Chalk and Talk: Results from a Third National Survey of Teaching Methods in Undergraduate Economics Courses

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Author Info
Michael Watts () (Purdue University)
William E. Becker (University of South Australia)

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Abstract

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 postsecondary instructors in other fields to devote more attention and effort to teaching and to make greater use of active, student-centered learning methods, with less use of direct instruction (chalk and talk). By 2005, although standard lectures and chalkboard presentations were still dominant, there was evidence of slow growth in the use of other teaching methods, including classroom discussions (especially teacher-directed discussions), computer-generated displays (such as PowerPoint), providing students with prepared sets of class notes, and computer lab assignments in econometrics and statistics courses. Internet database searches were used by a small but growing minority of instructors. Classroom experiments were used by a small share of instructors in introductory courses. Assignments or classroom references to the popular financial press, sports, literature, drama, or music were used somewhat more often. Cooperative learning methods were rarely used.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by Helen Dwight Reid Foundation in its journal The Journal of Economic Education.

Volume (Year): 39 (2008)
Issue (Month): 3 ()
Pages: 273-286
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Handle: RePEc:jee:journl:v:39:y:2008:i:3:p:273-286

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Related research
Keywords: teaching methods; undergraduate economics;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
A22 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Undergraduate

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Elchanan Cohn & Sharon Cohn & Donald C. Balch & James Bradley, Jr., 2001. "Do Graphs Promote Learning in Principles of Economics?," Journal of Economic Education, Helen Dwight Reid Foundation, vol. 32(4), pages 299-310. [Downloadable!]
  2. William E. Becker, 1997. "Teaching Economics to Undergraduates," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(3), pages 1347-1373, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Cynthia L. Harter & William E. Becker & Michael Watts, 2004. "Changing Incentives and Time Allocations for Academic Economists: Results from 1995 and 2000 National Surveys," Journal of Economic Education, Helen Dwight Reid Foundation, vol. 35(1), pages 89-97. [Downloadable!]
  4. Sam Allgood & William Bosshardt & Wilbert van der Klaauw & Michael Watts, 2004. "What Students Remember and Say about College Economics Years Later," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(2), pages 259-265, May. [Downloadable!]
  5. Becker, William E & Watts, Michael, 1996. "Chalk and Talk: A National Survey on Teaching Undergraduate Economics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(2), pages 448-53, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Costas Siriopoulos & Gerasimos Pomonis, 2009. "Selecting Strategies to Foster Economists' Critical Thinking Skills: A Quantile Regression Approach," Computers in Higher Education Economics Review, Economics Network, University of Bristol, vol. 8(1), pages 106-131. [Downloadable!]
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