This paper examines learning outcomes in a one-semester introductory microeconomics course where contact time with the instructor was reduced by two-thirds and students were expected to view pre-recorded lectures on-line and come to class prepared to engage in discussion. Students were pre-and...

In the event of an unanticipated disruption to normal life, universities tend to shift to an online environment in both delivery and assessment. Course instructors still need to assign grades despite not having the full set of planned assessments. This paper examines how grades are disrupted...

This study investigates how first year Principles of Economics courses assessment items predict achievement in post principles economics courses. Of particular interest is how achievement in different assessment forms (assignments, multiple choice questions, and constructed response questions)...

Advocates of Constructed Response (CR) questions argue that CR questions provide a different assessment of student knowledge than is available from Multiple Choice (MC) questions. If that is the case, and if the benefit in terms of improved assessment is substantial, then it follows that grade...

This study provides evidence that constructed response (CR) questions contribute information about student knowledge and understanding that is not contained in multiple choice questions (MC). We use an extensive data set of individual assessment results from Introductory Macro- and...

As the result of the September 4th 2010 Canterbury earthquake and associated aftershocks on February 22nd 2011 and June 13th 2011, final examinations in the two 100 level economics papers at Canterbury University were cancelled at short notice in semester one 2011. The final examination...

This study investigates whether question format disadvantages certain types of students. I use assessment data compiled from principles of economics classes at the University of Canterbury from 2002-2008. I combine these with administrative data on student characteristics to create a...

This paper examines the practical usefulness of two new journal performance metrics, namely the Eigenfactor score, which is said to measure “importance”, and Article Influence score, which is said to measure “prestige”, using the most recent ISI data for 2009 for the 200 most highly...

This paper examines the issue of coercive journal self-citations and the practical use¬fulness of two recent journal performance metrics, namely the Eigenfactor score, which may be interpreted as measuring “Journal Influence”, and the Article Influence score, using the Thomson Reuters ISI...

This paper examines the novelty and usefulness of two new journal performance metrics, namely the Eigenfactor Score and Article Influence Score, using ISI data for 2009 for the 200 most highly cited journals in each of the sciences and social sciences, and compares them with existing ISI...