Abstract
The importance of active learning in the classroom has been well established in the field of Economic education. This paper examines the connection between active learning and performance outcomes in an Economics 101 course. Students participated in single play simultaneous move game with a clear dominant strategy, modeled after the Prisoner’s Dilemma. The hypothesis is that if a student understands the Prisoner’s Dilemma and the relevant assumptions in Economic theory, he will choose the dominant strategy in the game. But will his choice be correlated with his performance on two important metrics? Empirical evidence indicates that there is a correlation between a student’s performance on the Prisoner’s Dilemma game and his performance on the subsequent in-class exam and in the course overall.
Highlights
The importance of active learning in the classroom has been well established in the field of the scholarship of teaching and learning
This paper examines student performance on an in-class active learning exercise and how that performance correlates with performance on a subsequent in-class exam and the overall score in the course
This paper seeks to establish a connection between performance on a version of the Prisoner’s Dilemma game played in class with subsequent performance on an in-class exam and with on overall performance in the course
Summary
The importance of active learning in the classroom has been well established in the field of the scholarship of teaching and learning. A survey of the literature shows that the research in active learning techniques in the classroom across a variety of disciplines can lead to improved understanding and retention material, as well as improved outcomes on exams. This paper examines student performance on an in-class active learning exercise and how that performance correlates with performance on a subsequent in-class exam and the overall score in the course. Students in a Principles of Economics Course (Eco101) participated in a simple Prisoner’s Dilemma game, and the game results were analyzed in terms of correlation with learning outcomes on assessments. The empirical evidence indicates some relationship between a student’s choosing the dominant strategy in the game and higher scores on the subsequent in-class exam and overall performance in the course
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