A Note on a More Effective Principles Course: A Personalized System of Instruction

Abstract

designed to improve the relevancy of the introductory economics course will hopefully heighten interest and improve results. In order to motivate students to deal effectively with abstract economic theory Leftwich and Sharp have experimented successfully with an issues- oriented principles course at Oklahoma State University.3 At Empire State College one commonly utilized approach is to apply the economic tools of analysis to an area in which the student has already developed a strong interest. This interest is usually derived from a combination of academic and professionally related sources. Basically, the course of study is tailored to the individual needs of the student, while the learning activities quite often incorporate some aspect of the student's job-related experience. The performance of students at the introductory level of study in economics at ESC has been consistently better for those students whose contracts include additional economics work which focuses on their individual fields of interest. Those students who are taking introductory economics as a one or two-semester isolated course are not performing as well as those who intend to apply the economic tools of analysis to their particular interests (of course neither group would be considered economics majors). The flexibility of ESC's approach allows the student to incorporate an applied follow-up course into one complete contract, or course of study. The student spends about the same amount of time on each portion of the contract. This usually consists of the equivalent of six to 12 semester hours. ESC students typically hold full-time jobs and tend to be older than the students at traditional colleges. The following are examples of contracts in which the student has taken introductory economics as part of a larger course of study: 1. A registered nurse majoring in health sciences applied basic economic principles to the economics of health care;