The author describes two learning activities for teaching economics at the advanced undergraduate level: a May American Economic Review (AER) papers seminar and an analytic project. Both activities help students learn to “do economics.†The May AER papers seminar promotes in-depth...

Many studies have identified factors that contribute to success in economics principles courses, but few have examined the causes and effects of student drops and failure. The author follows 239 students through their economic principles course and tracks the students in the year after the...

Students often exhibit overconfident grade expectations and tend to overestimate the actual course grade at the completion of a course. Current theories of student motivation suggest such overconfidence may lead students to study less than if they had accurate grade perceptions. The authors...

In each period of a dynamic tax-rebate program, a (fixed) quantity tax is imposed on each unit of a given good, and the tax revenue is rebated back to the consumer in the next period. The program lasts for infinite number of periods. The author considers a representative consumer’s...

The Solow model is widely regarded as the workhorse model of the theory of economic growth. Although at one point this model was first encountered in graduate school, it has since filtered down to the intermediate and, occasionally, to the principles of macroeconomics course. Many have commented...

The author presents an active-learning exercise for the introductory macroeconomics class in which students participate in a mock Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. Preparation involves data gathering and writing both a research report and a policy recommendation. An FOMC meeting is...

The authors examine the relationship between students’ locus of control and their evaluation of teaching in a traditional principles of economics course. Locus of control is a psychological construct that identifies an individual’s beliefs about the degree of personal control that...

The authors address two informal writing assignments implemented in introductory economics classes. One assignment involves students writing short reflection papers, and the other assignment involves students writing short journal entries for a designated period of time. Both assignments are...

The essay test has great potential to assess the higher levels of student understanding of economics. The problem is that most instructors fail to exploit the significant advantage of this testing method and to avoid its pitfalls. The author highlights the advantages and pitfalls to essay...

Using data on individuals taking principles of economics courses in large lecture rooms, the authors investigate whether a student’s seating preference is related to success in the classroom. They find that individuals who prefer to sit near the front of the room have a higher probability...