Can Positive Feedback Encourage Female and Minority Undergraduates into Economics?

In a field experiment designed to encourage undergraduate women and underrepresented minority students to study economics, we send personalized letters to students completing introductory economics classes inviting them to an informational meeting. A random sample of high-achieving students receives letters that also praise their performance and encourage them to persist in economics. Receiving this "nudge" increases the probability of informational meeting attendance and increases the number of women entering the economics and accounting major and of men entering the economics major. There is a substantial increase in the number of treated Hispanic students, particularly women, who choose economics and accounting.

The concept of rationality in introductory economics textbooks

The paper reviews major Economics textbooks used in the UK from the point of view of their use of rationality as a teaching tool. The textbooks vary widely in their explicit analysis of rationality from finding it important to totally ignoring it. When textbooks do use the concept as part of their analysis, the definitions vary considerably. In fact, there are some implicit uses of rationality in all textbooks although these are not always acknowledged. This complexity is reflected in the history of economic thought and modern economic analysis. The future use of rationality as a teaching tool is discussed in the context of current research in economics. JEL Classification: A22

Engagement and Efficiency of Remote Higher Education

The suddenness of COVID-19 forced, literally overnight, a transformation in the higher education sector. Students and instructors were migrated to an online engagement and knowledge transfer process, which created unforeseen challenges to instruction and prompted the development of new delivery systems. Further, the transition merged private and academic life as home life converged with work and ultimately, albeit unintentionally, promoted a more human perspective through widespread use of video-based communication. This chapter will address how COVID-19 affected the teaching of Introductory Economics, highlighting a case study of a course offered at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. The discussion addresses both positive and negative outcomes related to instruction and the role that COVID-19 has potentially had on teaching beyond the pandemic.

Does Advanced Placement Economics Exam Participation and Performance Predict Undergraduate Economics Major Completion?

Students who take an Advanced Placement (AP) Microeconomics and/or AP Macroeconomics exam may be more interested in economics than their non-AP exam peers and more likely to complete an economics major. Performance on AP exams in economics may also affect students’ economics major completion. This study uses binary probit estimations to assess how participation in and performance on AP exams in economics affects students’ completion of an economics major. The findings suggest students who take both AP exams in economics are significantly more likely to graduate with an economics major compared with non-AP students who complete their introductory economics coursework in college. In addition, strong performance on the AP Microeconomics exam significantly increases a student’s probability of earning an economics major. Receiving high scores on both AP Economics exams is also significantly and positively correlated with economics major completion. JEL Classifications: A21, A22

Teaching Methods in Undergraduate Introductory Economics Courses: Results From a Sixth National Quinquennial Survey

This article presents the first report of basic findings from the 2020 online administration of the sixth national quinquennial survey on teaching and assessment methods. Focusing on the teaching methods in introductory economics courses (i.e., principles and survey courses), the authors find that very little has changed in the past quarter-century. The typical instructor in introductory courses is predominantly a male, Caucasian, with a PhD. “Chalk and Talk” remains the preferred method of instruction in introductory courses, along with the use of textbooks. The use of “student(s) with student(s)” discussions in the classroom, as well as cooperative learning/small-group assignments, has increased since 2010. Lessons, activities, and references that address diversity, inclusion, or gender issues, however, are almost never used in introductory economics courses. JEL Classifications: A20, A22