Problem-Based Learning: Modifying the Medical School Model for Teaching High School Economics

Abstract

Many students enroll in high school economics thinking they will face a semester of dry, uninspiring information about vague principles that fall under the rubric of “the dismal science.” As late as 1960, “economics in the (high) schools simply was not accepted by college and university economists as a respectable area of professional concern.” Instruction in the course, if such a course existed, was “descriptive, dry and rarely included economic analysis.” The profession took note and, thirty years later, claimed dramatic improvements. More high school students took economics, and the high school course contained more analytic rigor and less description and often covered basic economic concepts. Furthermore, high school teachers were better prepared as a result of taking credit course work and attending non-credit programs in economics (Walstad 1992).