Analyzes the sex, race, and undergraduate background of new Ph.D.s in economics. Finds that more female economists come from liberal arts colleges, whereas racial minorities tend to receive their economics degrees from comprehensive universities. Urges targeting resources to produce more women and racial minority economists to serve as role…

Observes that students in introductory and intermediate economics courses often have difficulty understanding concepts of trade and budget deficits. Presents a graphical technique to be used as a framework for teaching these concepts in the classroom. Claims that this technique is effective in other comparative statistics exercises. (NL)

Examines the concept of "free riders," those who enjoy the benefits of a public good without contributing to the costs of providing it. Reviews classroom experiments on the free rider topic and describes a free rider experiment using an undergraduate class of 73 students. (CFR)

Contends that, in recent years, the growth of experimental economics as a field of research has led to increased interest in using games and experiments in the economics classroom. Summarizes 12 reports on using experimental economics in the classroom and concludes that the method encourages student interest and learning. (CFR)

Describes an exercise, step-by-step, for developing critical thinking while exposing students to electronic-data skills. Argues that the exercise enhances critical thinking by forcing students to deal with issues of data definition, collection, and interpretation, and by providing an active learning experience with real-world data. (DSK)

Describes one professor's experience in researching the use of multimedia tools for teaching principles of economics. Provides a list of resources consulted, including universities and colleges, books, software, laserdiscs and VHS tapes, Web sites, and journal sources. Found the students generally to be receptive to the introduction of new tools…

Uses a graphical analysis to determine the importance of quantity for consumer welfare and to examine the manner in which private and social welfare diverge in a monopoly. Criticizes the opinion that technology adoption by a monopoly always assumes a uniformly downward shift in the marginal cost curve. (MJP)

Discusses the large-scale reemergence of homelessness within the last 20 years. Examines the characteristics of the newly and chronic homeless. Considers a number of economic and public-policy factors contributing to this situation. Outlines a classroom presentation using graphs, statistics, and discussion questions to illustrate this information.…

Praises and summarizes James Bernard Murphy's "The Moral Economy of Labor: Aristotelian Themes in Economic Theory." Linking economic theories from Adam Smith to Karl Marx, Murphy criticizes traditional economic and social thinking regarding the division of labor. He proposes an integration of conceptualization and execution to humanize…

Describes an economics class experiment where students ranked the quality of baked pies according to limited information. The limited sets of information included brand name and packaging only, price only, advertising only, word-of-mouth, and taste test. Discusses signals of quality and consumer decisions. (MJP)

Asserts that elementary students should learn economics to prepare for their adult roles as consumers, producers, and voters. Discusses the "Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics" that consist of 20 standards and the respective benchmarks that describe the concepts students need to know by the end of grades 4, 8, and 12. (CMK)

Provides a lesson that integrates economics, mathematics, history, and language arts through a common interest of all elementary students: candy. Explains that the students managed and shopped at three classroom candy stores while learning economics concepts, such as supply and demand and the relationship of price to buying decisions. (CMK)

Assesses the effectiveness of supplementary Web-based materials and activities in traditional introductory college economics courses. Results suggest that faculty should focus more on developing self-test quizzes and effective bulletin board discussion projects as opposed to generating online content related to text or lecture notes. (Author/LRW)

Learning from a distance continues to gain popularity. An influx of traditional, and even on-campus students attest to its flexibility, but are they equipped to succeed in a low-contact distance environment versus a face-to-face, on-campus environment? This research explored whether several variables including background, preparedness and…

The purpose of this experimental study was to test the role of image and animation on: a) learners' perceptions of pedagogical agent persona characteristics (i.e., extent to which agent was person-like, engaging, credible, and instructor-like); b) agent value; and c) performance. The primary analysis consisted of two contrast comparisons: 1)…