Surveys and Experiments in Economic Education
Paper Session
Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024 12:30 PM - 2:15 PM (CST)
- Chair: Ashley Tharayil, Austin College
What and How the Public Knows about the Fed
Abstract
Information about what people know about the Fed and where they get their information can help to inform both economic education programs and Fed communications. An investigation of the public’s knowledge about the Fed and monetary policy and how people acquire this knowledge indicates that those who are baby boomers, male, and have higher incomes exhibit more knowledge about the Fed, while type of employment is not important. Following the news significantly affects knowledge. Those who get their news from news websites exhibit more knowledge about the Fed, while those who get their news from social media exhibit less knowledge. There are lasting effects on knowledge for those who studied economics in college but not for those who stopped their formal economics training in high school. Our data are from a 2020 survey of 841 adults from throughout the United States that included 18 content questions related to the Fed. Respondents scored an average of 57 percent on the content questions with about 20 percent correctly identifying the Fed’s inflation target. Because the public’s knowledge about the Fed affects expectations that influence monetary policy, we conclude that improving economic education is important and that following the news and news sources should be considered to be important determinants of economic knowledge.A Survey of Teaching and Assessment Methods in Advanced Placement Economics Courses
Abstract
This survey provides a national baseline of teaching and assessment methods at the Advanced Placement (AP) Economics level and is modeled after the national quinquennial survey on teaching and assessment methods in undergraduate economics courses. The near 400 collected responses allow us to: (1) document the prevalent teaching and assessment methods at the AP Economics level; (2) compare how economics is taught in AP Economics courses versus introductory economics courses at the undergraduate level; and (3) assess the level to which personal finance and other topics (e.g., diversity, equity, and inclusion) are being introduced in the economics curriculum at the high school level.Scholar Spotlights! A Curricular Intervention to Enhance Students' Perceptions of Relevance and Belonging in Principles of Macroeconomics
Abstract
This paper describes a curriculum and pedagogy to use throughout a principles of macroeconomics course that enhances students' perceptions of course relevance and sense of belonging in economics classes, with a particular focus on enhancing these experiences for women, students of color, and first-generation students, populations of students that are underrepresented in the economics discipline. Building off of the ideas and resources in Bayer (2021), I propose a curriculum that highlights current scholars applying class content to timely social and economic issues that directly apply to standard principles of economics content. I put an emphasis on scholars with backgrounds under-represented in the economics discipline and I also put an emphasis on younger scholars, so that students might see scholars with identities not too different from themselves working and doing research in economics. Finally, I brought it alive with a photo of the scholar. With survey evidence gathered from my students at the end of the semester, I find that large proportions of all demographic subgroups felt a strong sense of belonging and found the content relevant. Approximately one-third of students display evidence of a fixed mindset, with the problem more evident among female and first-generation students.Discussant(s)
Ashley Tharayil
,
Austin College
Eric P. Chiang
,
University of Nevada-Las Vegas
Chris McCarthy
,
Chadron State College
Seth Gitter
,
Towson University
JEL Classifications
- A1 - General Economics
- A2 - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics