Identifying Students at Risk Using a New Math Skills Assessment
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 111,
May 2021
(pp. 97-101)
Abstract
Math skills are critical for success in economics courses. However, instructors often lack information about the level and extent of their students' underpreparedness in mathematics. In this paper, we describe the development of two new assessments of math skills relevant for introductory and intermediate economics courses. The assessments may be used early in the semester to evaluate students and identify those with weak math skills. With data from introductory and intermediate microeconomics courses, we employ two different methodologies, a simple threshold analysis and a more sophisticated LASSO logit approach, to illustrate how our assessments identify students at risk of underperforming.Citation
Orlov, George, Douglas McKee, Irene R. Foster, Daria Bottan, and Stephanie R. Thomas. 2021. "Identifying Students at Risk Using a New Math Skills Assessment." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 111: 97-101. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20211044Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- A22 Economic Education and Teaching of Economics: Undergraduate