Education Commons^™

What Should We Teach In Intermediate Macroeconomics?, Dean D. Croushore

Economics Faculty Publications

The major focus of a course in Intermediate Macroeconomics is building and understanding macroeconomic models and how they work. The course is the most analytical course in the curriculum and should lead students to embark on deep thinking about models and equilibrium. Students learn the essentials of a model and develop the concept of how to simplify a model to understand key concepts. Once the core of a model is developed, additional model features can be added to increase realism. Perhaps the most important macroeconomic concept in the course is that of general equilibrium—students learn to go beyond examining initial …

50 Years Of Economic Instruction In The Journal Of Economic Education, Gail M. Hoyt, Kimmarie Mcgoldrick

Economics Faculty Publications

With 2019 marking the fiftieth year of publication of the Journal of Economic Education (JEE), it seems fitting to examine the evolution of economic instruction as portrayed in the Journal. Born of the American Economic Association (AEA), and first edited by members of the AEA’s Committee on Economic Education (Saunders 2012), it is not surprising that the Journal’s focus as chronicler, proponent, and outlet for economic education activity reflects the educational component of the American Economic Association’s mission. The creation of the Journal signaled a self-awareness in the discipline that we needed to be more deliberate in …

Teaching Courses In Macroeconomics And Monetary Policy With Bloomberg Analytics, Dean D. Croushore, Hossein S. Kazemi

Economics Faculty Publications

In this article, the authors illustrate the use of Bloomberg for analyzing topics in macroeconomics and monetary policy in economics and finance courses. The hands-on experience that students gain from such a course has many benefits, including deeper learning and clearer understanding of data. The authors describe goals and learning objectives, then compare Bloomberg with Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED). In addition, they provide examples of how to use Bloomberg in the classroom, describe how to have students perform sector analysis, show how Bloomberg tools are useful for analyzing monetary policy, discuss how to use Bloomberg to analyze the financial …

The More Things Change: Reflections On The State Of Marketing In Continuing Higher Education, James D. Campbell, James L. Narduzzi

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

All of us can readily identify the major changes that have occurred in society over the past several decades and, more important, the manner in which these changes have affected the way we conduct the business of continuing higher education. For example, the telephone has been replaced by e-mail, which is now the most prevalent way we communicate with each other in the workplace. Social media and the web now dominate how we market our programs and communicate with our various constituencies. Instruction, once delivered primarily face-to-face in a classroom setting, is now routinely delivered utilizing various digitally mediated formats, …

Paid Workers And Volunteers, Side By Side, Kevin F. Hallock

Economics Faculty Publications

Millions of Americans volunteer annually and, on average, volunteers are highly skilled individuals. With unpaid volunteers working alongside W2-paid employees, sometimes it is difficult in a workplace to distinguish one from the other. Motivations for volunteering are many and the author does not intend to fully explore the myriad reasons identified by social scientists for this behavior, including to gain experience, create a path to a paid job, offer service to others or gain personal recognition. An interesting study of volunteerism is Richard Freeman's Working for Nothing: The Supply of Volunteer Labor. Using data from a unique survey, Freeman showed …

Compensation Research Summer Camp, Kevin F. Hallock

Economics Faculty Publications

This summer, the Institute for Compensation Studies at Cornell's ILR School hosted its first Emerging Scholars Conference, which the author affectionately calls Comp Camp. Their conference, funded in part by WorldatWork, hosted a dozen junior scholars, three PhD students, a few senior scholars and some leaders from the practical world (including some from WorldatWork). They convened experts from fields like sociology, psychology, economics, industrial relations and business on the Cornell campus in Ithaca, NY, for robust discussions of several as-yet-unpublished research studies. The conference had three interesting papers on gender by scholars from three fields using data from three countries. …

Paying Professors, Kevin F. Hallock

Economics Faculty Publications

One of the most interesting quirks of academia is professional tenure. Many argue that tenure is necessary so that faculty can be protected by "academic freedom" to study the issues they find important without outside interference or pressures to conform. It is also, obviously, a nonmonetary reward and this security for life could offset higher salaries. Few accounts of the tenure system, however, recognize that while tenure essentially grants a job for life, it does not come with guaranteed lifetime raises. Some academic organizations, however, give roughly across the board annual raises. They don't seriously reward performance until a faculty …

Does Graduating In A Bad Economy Penalize Your Pay Tor Life?, Kevin F. Hallock

Economics Faculty Publications

Rigorous research has shown that the state of the economy when one graduates from college does matter. And, unfortunately, given the current slow-growth labor market, it matters not just for earning in the first job after college but also for compensation years in the future. Recessions are bad on graduates' pocketbooks, at graduation and in years to come. If that's not enough, it looks like recessions could be bad for these graduates' current and future health too. J. Catherine Maclean studies the effects of graduating from college during a bad economy on physical functioning, mental functioning and depressive symptoms on …

Does More Education Cause Higher Earnings?, Kevin F. Hallock

Economics Faculty Publications

College graduates earned roughly 67% more per hour than high school graduates in the US in 2010. Those with more education earn more because the world of work measures in some manner that they are simply more productive in dollars and cents terms. Some signaling theory advocates argue that if the return to education were due to learning, then the returns should be smoothly proportional to the time spent in school. However, researchers have detected a larger jump in earnings for those who complete the final year of college. Whether different schools return differently is an extension of the learning …

Using Real World Applications To Policy And Everyday Life To Teach Money And Banking, Dean D. Croushore

Economics Faculty Publications

Teaching a course in money and banking can be simultaneously challenging and easy. It is challenging because teaching the course well often requires a fair amount of institutional knowledge, which an instructor may not have acquired in graduate school. However, it is easy because the course can be geared to the coverage of current events, so economic data releases and the state of the economy help the instructor develop a new course every semester and produce an interesting lecture every day.

There are many different ways to teach a course on money and banking. At most schools, the only prerequisite …

The Application Of Little's Law To Enrollment Management: Improving Student Persistence In Part-Time Degree Programs, Ellen M. Walk, Lewis A. Litteral

Management Faculty Publications

Little’s Law is applied to enrollment management in part-time degree programs. Using institutional data by program, on number of graduates per year, as well as number of credits taken and number of active students per semester, the calculated average time to graduation is compared to the average flow time predicted by Little’s Law. Despite significant variability among students who enter with varying transfer credits and take varying credits per semester, Little’s Law provides a simple model for measuring program growth trends, student productivity, and persistence to graduation. Implications for marketing, admissions, advising, course scheduling, and curriculum design are discussed.

The Experience Of Liberal Education, Edward L. Ayers

History Faculty Publications

Every college and university has built new capacity to deliver new experiences for students through study abroad, community service, career development, health and fitness, cultural understanding, or spiritual growth. They come to college to broaden their experience, and colleges and universities are the only places where people of all backgrounds, religions, ethnicities, classes, and politics come together to explore who they are and who they might become. Going to college is a defining time in their lives, and there is much more we can do to make it a liberating and transformative experience.

Fear And Loathing On The (Capital) Campaign Trail, James L. Narduzzi

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

It has been nearly five years since I wrote "Engaging Continuing Education Alumni" for this publication and several additional years prior to that since I began talking at various UCEA meetings about the fundraising potential of continuing higher education. During the ensuing period I have been through an institutional capital campaign, helped raise nearly $2.5 million dollars earmarked for school projects, succeeded in making friends and supporters beyond my wildest dreams, and failed miserably in accomplishing the fundraising goals established for the school. This article reflects on the lessons learned by a fundraising novice whose school was engaged in an …

Student Preferences For Common Or Unique Assignments: Some Early Evidence, Erwin Waldmann, Janek Ratnatunga, Marshall A. Geiger

Accounting Faculty Publications

Accounting assignments and homework exercises that use identical problem material for all students encourage plagiarism. Giving each individual student a unique assignment alleviates this problem, but raises other issues such as the lack of co-operative learning and grading parity. This paper examines students' attitudes towards both common and unique accounting assignments. The results indicate that a large majority of students preferred the unique assignments and perceived getting a high grade on these assignments as more rewarding and reflective of higher learning than similar grades on common assignments. Attitudinal variables for the validity of grading, perceptions regarding plagiarism, and perceptions of …

Impact: What Influences Finance Research?, Tom Arnold, Alexander W. Butler, Timothy Falcon Crack, Ayca Altintig

Finance Faculty Publications

Which journal articles have had the most impact on finance research? Which journals dominated finance research in the 1990s? We answer these and similar questions using a comprehensive sample of journals, an extensive time period, and a new ranking method that avoids problems inherent in the existing literature. Among our findings: six of the 10 articles most highly cited by finance journals were published in econometrics or economics journals; Journal of Finance has the most citations, but it accounts for only one of the top 10 articles; and Journal of Financial Economics has the highest impact per article.

On The Answer-Arrangement Bias Of Professional Certification Examinations In Accounting, Marshall A. Geiger, Mark M. Higgins

Accounting Faculty Publications

The test construction literature has emphasized the randomization of answers within multiple-choice items as a way to eliminate test construction bias. This study examines the answer placement bias of the multiple-choice portion of the 1987 - 1992 CIA, CMA, and CPA exams. The results indicate a consistent bias toward the "A" position in the CIA exam and against the "A" and "E" positions on the CMA exam. Also, all three exams were found to have significantly fewer correct answer runs (e.g., four "A's" in a row) than would be expected from the random placement of answers. A discussion of test …

A Business Curriculum For The Commonwealth Of Independent States, Susan Coleman, James L. Narduzzi

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

Eastern Europe and the former states of the Soviet Union have undergone and continue to undergo a period of dramatic transformation from centralized economies to free market systems. This has involved a shift from public to private ownership for many large state enterprises, and it has also involved the development and launch of many new business ventures. Privatization as it is called, has created a demand for American style business education, capabilities, and experiences.

Further Comments On The Use Of The Lsi In Research On Student Performance In Introductory Accounting, Marshall A. Geiger, Edmund J. Boyle

Accounting Faculty Publications

In this note we respond to the comments of Ruble and Stout (1993) concerning the use of the revised Learning Style Inventory (LSI) developed by Kolb (1985). While our more recent psychometric research on the LSI leads us to conclude that the standard version should no longer be used, unlike Ruble and Stout, we see promise for new or modified versions in future research. We also indicate where several of their comments on our work, as well as the work of others, are not well founded.

A Three-Year Longitudinal Study Of Change In Student Learning Styles, Jeffrey K. Pinto, Marshall A. Geiger, Edmund J. Boyle

Accounting Faculty Publications

Kolb's (1985) Learning Style Inventory and theories of learning preferences have become increasingly popular as a method for measuring preferred approaches for acquiring information and learning in classroom settings. Using Kolob's (1985) theory; a number of researchers have argued that as students move through their college experience, their learning styles are likely to undergo significant changes. This paper reports on the results of a three-year longitudinal study that investigated the actual degree of learning style changes for a sample of college students in business, offering mixed support for the contention that learning styles are likely to change over a student's …

Learning Styles Of Students And Instructors: An Analysis Of Course Performance And Satisfaction, Marshall A. Geiger, Edmund J. Boyle

Accounting Faculty Publications

Accounting educators have utilized Kolb's Learning Style Inventory (LSI) in the assessment of accounting students and the accounting curriculum. This study extends these earlier works by examining the effect of student and instructor learning style, as measured by the revised 1985 LSI, on introductory course performance and ratings of satisfaction with both the course and the instructor.

The results indicate no significant effect of student/teacher learning style interaction on final course grade or students' ratings of satisfaction. However, instructors having a convergent learning style were given significantly higher satisfaction ratings regardless of student learning style.

Learning Styles Of Introductory Accounting Students: An Extension To Course Performance And Satisfaction, Marshall A. Geiger

Accounting Faculty Publications

Togo and Baldwin (1990) have recently utilized Kolb's 1976 Learning Style Inventory (LSI) in the assessment of introductory accounting student performance. This study extends this earlier work by examining the effect of learning style, as measured by the 1985 LSI, on introductory exam performance and ratings of satisfaction with the introductory course. Learning style was found to be significantly related to overall exam performance; with those maintaining a similar learning style as the instructor (i.e. assimilator) performing best. Additionally, learning style was also found to affect student ratings of course satisfaction.

The Myth Of "Conventional Wisdom" On Changing Multiple-Choice Answers, Marshall A. Geiger

Accounting Faculty Publications

Business students are often warned not to change multiple-choice answers once an original selection has been made. This "conventional wisdom," that the first answer selected usually is the correct answer, is in contrast with the conclusions of research in the education and psychology fields. This study extends these earlier studies by using students in accounting principles I and principles II classes, and by examining whether the type of question (numeric or non-numeric) affects answer-changing behavior. On average, for every point lost roughly three points were gained by changing answers for both groups. Additionally, gender was found not to be a …

Teaching Accounting Concepts Versus Applications: An Analysis Of Student Attitudes, Marshall A. Geiger

Accounting Faculty Publications

Accounting faculty have long debated the usefulness and appropriateness of their teaching endeavor. One of the central themes in this continuing discussion is that of teaching concepts versus teaching applications of current accounting principles. In order to empirically address this issue, students' attitudes toward the conceptual aspects and toward the practical application aspects of financial accounting were assessed. This research also reports on the development and validation of an instrument that measures attitudes of students toward these aspects of financial accounting. The instrument demonstrated high reliability with both intermediate and introductory students. Intermediate students were found to distinguish between attitudes …