Factors Influencing Performance in Economics: Graphs and Quantitative Usage

Benedict, Mary Ellen; Hoag, John

doi:10.4337/9781781002452.00050

Cited by 4 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…In the cross-sectional study by Susac et al (2018) , students often found it more difficult to make calculations based on the graph concept “area” (e.g., using an integral) than to determine the “slope” of a graph. This result confirms existing findings and theoretical assumptions ( Cohn et al, 2001 ; Benedict and Hoag, 2012 ). Klein et al (2019) found that “area” tasks required more time and were therefore cognitively more demanding than “slope” tasks for both domains (physics and economics).…”

Section: Background Of the Post-replication Studysupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Furthermore, there is a high increase in scores on the quantitative "slope" tasks in the finance context. Fundamental mathematical concepts are taught in economics degree programs right at the beginning of the curriculum, which enables students to understand and analyze subject-related phenomena using these methodological tools (Jensen, 2011;Benedict and Hoag, 2012). Teaching in the domain of economics in particular places a strong focus on the concept of "slope" (e.g., in the analysis of extremes, cost, and profit trends), which is also generally easier for students to comprehend than the concept of "area under the curve."…”

Section: Changes In Scores Across Contexts and Domainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Line graphs, in particular, are frequently used in higher education. For example, the relationships between distance and speed in physics or between time and stock prices in finance can both be illustrated with a line graph ( Bowen and Roth, 1998 ; Benedict and Hoag, 2012 ; Susac et al, 2018 ; Becker et al, 2020a , b ; Hochberg et al, 2020 ; Klein et al, 2020 ). More recently, a number of studies investigated and compared university students’ understanding of graphs in mathematics, physics, and other contexts using parallel (isomorphic) tasks ( Christensen and Thompson, 2012 ; Planinic et al, 2012 , 2013 ; Wemyss and van Kampen, 2013 ; Bollen et al, 2016 ; Ivanjek et al, 2016 , 2017 ).…”

Section: Research Focus and Objectivementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the ability to understand graphs is necessary for the development of domain-specific knowledge and conceptual change, especially in the domains of physics and economics 2 , so far little research has been conducted on the development of graph understanding in these two domains. Whereas in physics, and especially in physics education, there are many studies on graph understanding in kinematics ( McDermott et al, 1987 ; Beichner, 1994 ; Planinic et al, 2013 ; Wemyss and van Kampen, 2013 ; Klein et al, 2020 ), in economics, no research field has yet been established that explicitly analyzes graph understanding ( Cohn et al, 2001 ; Stern et al, 2003 ; Benedict and Hoag, 2012 ). In particular, it is yet underresearched to what extent a transfer between more distant disciplines, such as between natural and social science disciplines, can succeed.…”

Section: Background Of the Post-replication Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Changes in Students’ Understanding of and Visual Attention on Digitally Represented Graphs Across Two Domains in Higher Education: A Postreplication Study

Brückner

Zlatkin‐Troitschanskaia

Küchemann

et al. 2020

Front. Psychol.

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Domain-specific understanding of digitally represented graphs is necessary for successful learning within and across domains in higher education. Two recent studies conducted a cross-sectional analysis of graph understanding in different contexts (physics and finance), task concepts, and question types among students of physics, psychology, and economics. However, neither changes in graph processing nor changes in test scores over the course of one semester have been sufficiently researched so far. This eye-tracking replication study with a pretest–posttest design examines and contrasts changes in physics and economics students’ understanding of linear physics and finance graphs. It analyzes the relations between changes in students’ gaze behavior regarding relevant graph areas, scores, and self-reported task-related confidence. The results indicate domain-specific, context- and concept-related differences in the development of graph understanding over the first semester, as well as its successful transferability across the different contexts and concepts. Specifically, we discovered a tendency of physics students to develop a task-independent overconfidence in the graph understanding during the first semester.

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Section: Background Of the Post-replication Studysupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Changes In Scores Across Contexts and Domainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Research Focus and Objectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Background Of the Post-replication Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Changes in Students’ Understanding of and Visual Attention on Digitally Represented Graphs Across Two Domains in Higher Education: A Postreplication Study

Brückner

Zlatkin‐Troitschanskaia

Küchemann

et al. 2020

Front. Psychol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“… Miller and Rebelein () summarize the literature that analyzes the impact of various teaching techniques such as cooperative learning, classroom experiments, case studies, experiential learning, and undergraduate research on student learning in economics courses. Benedict and Hoag () review studies that consider the role of varying usage of graphs and quantitative skills on student performance. Owen () surveys the existing literature regarding the impact of student characteristics (gender, major, attendance, prior course experience, etc.)…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Heterogeneous gender effects under loss aversion in the economics classroom: A field experiment

Apostolova-Mihaylova¹,

Cooper

Hoyt

et al. 2015

Southern Economic Journal

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This article evaluates the impact of loss aversion as a behavioral motivator on students classroom performance. Conducting an experiment with University of Kentucky undergraduate students, the authors framed student grades as a loss and gain. In treatment sections, the students began with full marks and lost points as the semester progressed, whereas in control sections, under a traditional grading scheme, students accumulated points throughout the semester. We find that treated individuals, on average, do not have a statistically different final grade than individuals in the control class. However, we uncover a heterogeneous gender effect. On average, a male in the treatment class scores between 3.17 and 4.05 percentage points higher on the final grade than a male in the control class, ceteris paribus. Conversely, a female in the treatment class scores between 3.61 and 4.36 percentage points lower on the final grade than a comparable female in the control class. JEL Classification: A

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Applying Bandura's Theory of Self-Efficacy to assess the perceptions of Pre-service Economics teachers concerning teaching using graphs

Ngulube,

Ogbonnaya

2023

IJRBS

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This qualitative study examined the Self-efficacy perceptions of preservice economics teachers regarding teaching with graphs. Understanding graphs have a major role in future teaching practices however learners find it challenging understanding economics graphs. Using a structured interview of 55 pre-service secondary school teachers, economics self-efficacy items by Bandura self-efficacy framework was used to analyze the data. The study found that student teachers are not confident to teach using graphs but have positive attitude to learn how to plot and interpret graphs. The teaching practices of high school teachers were found to have influenced the low-self-efficacy of most of the participants though they look forward to teaching using graphs. Most participants agreed that plotting, understanding, and interpreting data from graphs as well as presenting information graphically are key skills that all economics teachers and students should master. The research concludes that both high school economics teachers and preservice teachers should be equipped with the necessary skills to understand graph presentation because they both grapple with interpreting and plotting graphs. The research contributes to improving the way graphs are taught because economics teachers must be comfortable with graph presentations. Higher education institutions should increase their effectiveness when teaching introductory economics courses by finding creative ways to help students understand graphical representations of economics content. It is recommended that Teacher Education programs should emphasize the importance of graphs in the teaching of economics and empower student teachers with the necessary skills.

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Factors Influencing Performance in Economics: Graphs and Quantitative Usage

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Changes in Students’ Understanding of and Visual Attention on Digitally Represented Graphs Across Two Domains in Higher Education: A Postreplication Study

Changes in Students’ Understanding of and Visual Attention on Digitally Represented Graphs Across Two Domains in Higher Education: A Postreplication Study

Heterogeneous gender effects under loss aversion in the economics classroom: A field experiment

Applying Bandura's Theory of Self-Efficacy to assess the perceptions of Pre-service Economics teachers concerning teaching using graphs

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