American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Classroom Experiments: Is More More?
American Economic Review
vol. 106,
no. 5, May 2016
(pp. 363–67)
Abstract
Studies have demonstrated that classroom experiments have a positive effect on student achievement in economics courses. Questions remain regarding the appropriate number of experiments. In the current study we attempt to determine whether more intensive use of classroom experiments is associated with greater student achievement. Our data contains variation in the number of experiments administered in a principles of microeconomics course. We find that participation in classroom experiments has a positive, but diminishing, marginal benefit on students' final course scores. We also find that classroom experiments can bridge some achievement gaps (between older and younger students, between whites and minorities).Citation
Emerson, Tisha L. N., and Linda English. 2016. "Classroom Experiments: Is More More?" American Economic Review, 106 (5): 363–67. DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20161054Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- A22 Economic Education and Teaching of Economics: Undergraduate
- I23 Higher Education; Research Institutions
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination