Economics Of Higher Education Research Articles

A model of effective teaching of economics in higher education: the integral role of classroom learning environment, instructional practices, and teacher characteristics

Yidana and Darkwa explore university students’ perceptions of how the classroom learning environment and Economics teachers’ instructional practices promote learning in higher education. The researchers developed and empirically tested a framework that characterises quality Economics instruction. The outcomes of the study suggest that the conceptual framework is valid and reliable and can effectively be used to evaluate quality Economics instruction in higher education. The results indicate key areas that are beneficial concerning student perceptions of teacher effectiveness in promoting student learning. These include planning and preparation, scaffolding of instruction, classroom communication, classroom management, classroom learning environment, and teacher characteristics.

Understanding the challenges of the secondary-tertiary transition in mathematics for economics in higher education: a literature review

Abstract This review paper examines the issues identified by research regarding students transitioning from school mathematics to service mathematics modules within economics education at the tertiary level. Literature was gathered in four steps, mainly through hand-searching strategies from journals, books, conference proceedings and reports. The results show that existing research addresses the challenges of students to cope with changed roles of students and teachers, as well as with new approaches to teaching and assessment, in the transition phase between education levels. Special issues identified for service mathematics in economics education are (i) issues of heterogeneous mathematics background in the student group, (ii) of mismatch in expectations about mathematics level and demand and (iii) the issue of relevance of mathematics. This review helps practitioners gain deeper insights into these multifaceted issues of transition. Furthermore, several potential directions for further research in the field are recommended.

Teaching economics in higher education with universal design for learning

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework, first introduced by the Harvard School of Graduate Education in 1984, to incorporate different approaches to engage and motivate learners from diverse backgrounds in an inclusive learning environment. UDL promotes academic curriculum design based on three main principles: (1) multiple means of representation, (2) multiple means of action and expression, and (3) multiple means of engagement. This study shows how UDL can be implemented in a principles of microeconomics course, providing examples of good practice for delivery structures and evaluation criteria that integrate UDL strategies.

Reflections on Economics Education in China and Suggestions for Its Reform

Abstract Although the current economics education system in universities in China differs from developed Western countries, China has been deliberately emulating the economics education system in the West over the past two decades, a system that has been repeatedly criticized by international movements such as the “Post-Autistic Economics Movement” and the “International Student Initiative for Pluralism in Economics.” This article argues that the dominant position of mainstream Western economics in Chinese higher education contradicts the scientific principles of pluralism and does not align with China’s national conditions and the necessity for the development of a philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics. Based on the proposals put forward by faculty and students involved in the international movement for the reform of economics education over the past 22 years, this article recommends reforms to address the major weaknesses of economics education in China. The reforms address ten areas for improvement, including the overall goals of pluralism in economics education, curriculum design, teaching methods, an independent academic evaluation system, faculty development, and the evaluation of academic disciplines. The purpose of these reforms is to destabilize the dominant position of mainstream Western economics in higher education in China and gradually establish a new economics education system with a curriculum based on a plurality of approaches, a variety of critical pedagogies, and a methodology of problem-based learning.

Reflections on Economics Education in China and Suggestions for Its Reform

Although the current economics education system in universities in China differs from developed Western countries, China has been deliberately emulating the economics education system in the West over the past two decades, a system that has been repeatedly criticized by international movements such as the “post-autistic economics movement” and the “International Student Initiative for Pluralism in Economics.” This article argues that the dominant position of mainstream Western economics in Chinese higher education contradicts the scientific principles of pluralism and does not align with China’s national conditions and the necessity for the development of a philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics. Based on the proposals put forward by faculty and students involved in the international movement for the reform of economics education over the past twenty-two years, this article recommends reforms to address the major weaknesses of economics education in China. The reforms address ten areas for improvement, including the overall goals of pluralism in economics education, curriculum design, teaching methods, an independent academic evaluation system, faculty development, and the evaluation of academic disciplines. The purpose of these reforms is to destabilize the dominant position of mainstream Western economics in higher education in China and gradually establish a new economics education system with a curriculum based on a plurality of approaches, a variety of critical pedagogies, and a methodology of problem-based learning.

Tuition too high? Blame competition

In this article, we develop a feedback theory that includes reinforcing and balancing feedback effects that emerge when colleges compete for reputation, applicants, and tuition revenue. The feedback theory is replicated in a formal duopoly model consisting of two competing colleges. An independent ranking entity determines the relative order of the colleges. College applicants choose between the two colleges based on the rankings and the financial aid offered by the colleges. Contrary to the conventional wisdom that competition lowers prices and benefits consumers, our simulations show that competition between academic institutions for resources and reputation leads to tuition escalation that negatively affects students and their families. Four of the five scenarios – rankings, a capital campaign, facilities improvements, and an excellence campaign – increase college tuition, institutional debt, and expenditures per student; only the scenario of ignoring the rankings decreases these measures. By referring to the feedback structure of academic competition, the article makes several recommendations for controlling tuition inflation. This article contributes to the literature on the economics of higher education and illustrates the value of feedback economics in developing economic theory.

The Personnel of Russian Technological Sovereignty: Former Problems and Immediate Solutions

This research article is devoted to assessing the compliance of quantitative and structural indicators of the personnel higher education with the needs of the country’s economy. The authors try to determine the main directions for providing the economy with professional staff and the resulting tasks that universities face. The purpose of this article is to compare various indicators of the structure with higher-educated graduates’ number in Russia and in OECD countries (by areas of training), to find out the trends in this sphere, and to identify the reasons for the structural and quantitative discrepancy between the training of professional personnel in Russia and the need for them. There is studied the correspondence of the personnel training structure indicators in Russia by integrated groups of specialties to the predicted indicators of the sectoral structure of gross regional products and employment by types of economic activity. The article also analyzes the indicators of higher educated personnel training per ten thousand people and per GDP for Russia, Germany and the United States. Some results of additional analysis might be interpreted in different ways; the authors’ hypotheses make it possible to eliminate the possible contradictions obtained. An important result substantiated in the article is the medium-term shortage of personnel with higher education, as the number of professional personnel employed in the economy grows to compensate for the low level of labor productivity, the latter happening due to the scientifically and technologically lagging economy. Based on the results of the analysis, there are proposed higher-educated specialists’ shortage compensation mechanisms. This is wherefrom the urgent tasks of university management arise, their solution being of the utmost importance in the current work of university leaders at all levels. The article might be of interest for university leaders and employees, as well as for researchers specializing in the economics of higher education.

The Futures of the Faculty Promotion Regulations in Iran: a scenario approach

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effects of drivers, macro trends and uncertainties related to them in the course of developing the future regulations for the promotion of university faculty members, and drawing alternative scenarios about the promotion regulations in the horizon of 2035. For this purpose, relying on qualitative methodology and using cross-effect analysis matrix tools and MicMac software, the main drivers of change in this field were identified and analyzed. Then, by using the Senario Wizard software and expert panel, the main uncertainties were determined and possible scenarios for the future of the regulations for the promotion of faculty members in the horizon of 2035 were explained and narrated. According to this, while analyzing the structural relationships of impact and effectiveness among key components, five dominant forces of discourse of higher education in Iran including society's expectation (industry, market and government) from higher education, economy of higher education, competitiveness and internationalization of higher education and emerging challenges and development of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary sciences were considered as drivers of change. Finally, the three scenarios of "Wisdom and Knowledge Think Tank", "Science and Technology University" and "Logic and Value School" as alternative futures for the promotion system of academic faculty members were explained and the conditions of the regulations in each of the mentioned scenarios were described and compared with each other.

Higher Education Funding Strategies: Towards Equity, Efficiency, and Quality

As economists have become increasingly interested in higher education, economic reasoning has been applied, resulting in extremely useful research in higher education. With the growth of market forces in higher education, the changing role of government, and advances in research on the economics of higher education, higher education funding is increasingly seen as a tool to stimulate the market. The development of an effective funding strategy may be one of the keys to developing higher education - its quality and efficiency, increasing equity and equality. The article adds to the existing literature on higher education funding and the impact of market forces on higher education. It aims to provide an analysis of economic reasoning applied to higher education, which can be used as a tool to develop a funding strategy. It also includes an overview of different funding models concerning economic reasoning and synthesizes different funding strategies regarding their impact on the higher education market.

Doors slam shut: Adult education program closures

AbstractThis autoethnographic study documents the stories of two adult education faculty members’ experiences when their respective academic programs were closed. We situate our stories within changes in higher education economics and two theoretical frameworks: expectancy theory and psychological contract theory. Despite our isolation as the sole faculty member with adult education credentials, we continue to conduct research, teach, mentor students and colleagues, and remain engaged with the field of adult education.

Improving study admission through entry diagnostics using a validated subject-specific test

According to teaching-learning theories, interventions in educational practice require a valid diagnosis of students’ learning preconditions. Cognitive dispositions at the beginning of studies are the strongest predictor of knowledge acquisition. In the context of increasing numbers of beginning students with heterogeneous preconditions, valid entry diagnostics are indispensable to inform education practitioners about students’ study-related preconditions and to design effective measures for the admission phase. In practice, entry diagnosis is based on indicators such as the grade of university entrance qualification, and general achievement tests. Numerous studies show that such indicators have limited validity in predicting academic performance. Therefore, recent research suggests subject-specific entrance tests to improve entry diagnostics. The use of a test in educational practice for diagnostic purposes can only be justified if the test is able to explain academic performance better than other (established) indicators. In a Germany-wide, large-scale representative study in higher education economics (6,610 beginning students at 46 universities), we investigate whether a validated domain-specific test can provide more valid entry diagnostics than other indicators. We examine the relation between this test and other indicators and demonstrate its diagnostic value, and discuss how the test can be used in the study entry phase.

The foresight of economics of higher Education in Egypt for achieving targets of Sustainable Development

The foresight of economics of higher Education in Egypt for achieving targets of Sustainable Development

Research in the Classroom: The Teaching of Economics and Gamification

This paper presents the preliminary results of a proposal to facilitate the understanding of concepts and the logic of economy in university students who are not enrolled in the academic program of economics. This proposal is based on the simulation game called Strategies and Markets in Economics (Estrategias y Mercados en Economía – EMERCO), which resulted from a research process in the classroom. The methodology has a qualitative approach and a descriptive type, with an exploratory scope. This study shows the functioning of the game, the selection of the team according to mentality type and brain dominance, in accordance with the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument. The game has novel elements in its structure by bringing the real functioning of a market to the classroom, achieving better results in regard to grades and in the assimilation of the contents in introductory classes and fundamentals of economics in higher education.

Tuition fees, entrance examinations and misconceptions about equity in higher music education

The increasing participation rate in higher education has raised its own issues, such as how to fund the growth while retaining the quality of education. In Finland, it has been argued that the tuition-free higher education policy increases equality. On the other hand, in the United Kingdom, establishing a system of tuition fees supported by an income-contingent loan system for students has also been argued to increase equality. In Australia, students also face high tuition fees for higher education, as well as a support system focused on domestic students. In addition to tuition fees, entrance examinations also play a crucial part in higher education systems. In order to examine inequalities in higher education from the students’ point of view, tuition fees are scrutinised in connection with equality, and entrance examinations in relation to cultural reproduction. Comparing examples of higher music education institutions in Finland, the United Kingdom, and Australia shows that there are large differences between the tuition fees charged for domestic and international students, as well as between countries. Entrance examinations in higher music education are similar in these countries, but may include inequalities based on long traditions in the field of music, especially in classical music. By revealing misconceptions about equity in higher education, it is possible to have a critical debate about the role of tuition fee systems as they are connected with the economics of higher education, and about entrance examinations as reproducing social class inequalities. This discussion may contribute to the redefinition and reformation of more equitable and just education systems, and promote equality in general in society.

From Treasure to Trash: The Changing Meaning of Books in the New Social Economy of Higher Education

This paper draws on the findings of an autoethnographic study to discuss significant changes in the character of US institutions of higher education in recent decades. The autoethnography incorporates two forms of evidence: first, a dataset generated from the author’s experiences, observations, communications, and interactions over a 40-year career as a college professor in a wide range of academic settings, and second, a specific event that occurred just weeks before the author’s formal retirement from full-time academic employment. The latter event proved to be analytically important as a crystallizing experience for making sense of the larger body of data collected over the author’s academic career. The event serves as a dramatic illustration of profound changes in how various academic constituencies have come to define the meaning and value of academic books. The paper proposes that the changing meaning of books among key academic actors can be viewed as an important signifier of broader social-economic trends in higher education in the postwar era.

The Enhancement of Teaching and Learning Economics in Higher Education: Digital Technology Approach

Digital technology can be observed in every aspect of our today’s society. It serves as the primary instrument needed in building knowledge societies for quality education.  Although, excellent teaching in higher education requires the sound knowledge of the subject and a right way of imparting the experience to the students. Economics teachers often face the problems of the best ways to help students understand the fundamental economic phenomena and the application of relevant economics terms to real-life situations. However, to overcome such issues calls for the need to discover new and appropriate teaching methods which should be in alignment with the needs and possibilities of economics students in higher education. To this effect, an appropriate pedagogical model is designed for the enhancement of teaching and learning of economics in higher education, especially in this era of the new-normal brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic which has disorganised the entire globe with unanticipated changes in every aspect of the society, including the educational sector in which the need/impact of digital technology cannot be overemphasised. The pedagogical model would lead to active, creative, collaborative, and highly engaged digital experiences for economic students in higher education. Keywords: Economics, Digital technology, Teaching, Learning, Inclusivity, Pedagogical model DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-9-13 Publication date: March 31 st 2021

The Economics of Higher Education in Nepal: Developing a Sustainability Plan

Nepal universities are in a delicate transition now. The enrolment of students is not encouraging; rather it is declining over the years particularly in public universities. Consequently, the outflow of Nepalese students has got momentum over two decades; and nearly a half-million Nepalese students are currently enrolled in foreign universities. The quality education in Nepalese universities is crucial for the return as well as the significant inflow of Nepalese students in the universities of their homeland. However, higher education requires a sustainability plan particularly for the resource generation and promotion of scientific research/publications. Long-term vision, mission, and strategic measures are particularly lacking in Nepal universities. This requires setting objectives and attainable milestones along with specific strategic measures and financial planning that are missing now. The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, it proposes a monitoring framework in the form of a regression model to use as a tool and observe the improvement in higher education in the country. Secondly, it has proposed a typical Sustainability Plan considered appropriate to Nepal; however, it might be equally replicable to other universities of the developing world. Moreover, it has also suggested measures to make such a plan a success.

Economics of higher education in Russia

The paper discusses the economic aspect of modern Russian higher education. Education is one of the economic branches. The paper proposes several models of domestic economic policy in the field and some ideas for involving foreign students. The main idea of the paper is that universities have to stop hopping for government resources and act like an economic actor.

Portraits of the evaluation of higher education: presentation of cases from Brazil, Portugal and England

The globalization of the idea and evaluation processes of educational systems lead to the emergence of the debate about the relation between the homogeneity of the abstract universal models and the heterogeneity of the experiences with the evaluation in each national context. Therefore, such relationship is taken as the guiding principle of this article: the scenarios of the assessment of higher education in Brazil, Portugal and England are here scopes for a comparative analysis with the central purpose of characterizing and situating them in the broader or global context of state and supranational regulation. The National System of Evaluation of Higher Education (SINAES) in Brazil, the Portuguese Evaluation and Accreditation System (coordinated by the Agency for Evaluation and Accreditation of Higher Education, A3ES, a private law foundation), as well as the recent Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) from the United Kingdom serve as corpus for this study. The main conclusions of the study revolve around the narrowing of the relations between education and economics in higher education, expressed in the conceptions, regulations, criteria and the political and social uses of the evaluation systems of this level of education in the countries analyzed.

Narratives and Their Impact on Students’ Information Seeking and Critical Online Reasoning in Higher Education Economics and Medicine

The digital and information age has fundamentally transformed the way in which students learn and the study material they have at their disposal, especially in higher education. Students need to possess a number of higher-order cognitive and metacognitive skills, including effective information processing and critical reasoning to be able to navigate the Internet and use online sources, even those found outside of academically curated domains and in the depths of the Internet, and to solve (domain-specific) problems. Linking qualitative and quantitative research and connecting the humanities to empirical educational science studies, this paper investigates the role of narratives and their impact on university students’ information seeking and their critical online reasoning (COR). This study focuses on the link between students’ online navigation skills, information seeking behavior and critical reasoning with regard to the specific domains: economics and medicine. For the empirical analysis in this paper, we draw on a study that assesses the critical online reasoning (COR) skills of undergraduate students of economics and medicine at two German universities. To measure COR skills, we used five tasks from the computer-based assessment “Critical Online Reasoning Assessment” (CORA), which assesses students’ skills in critically evaluating online sources and reasoning using evidence on contentious issues. The conceptual framework of this study is based on an existing methodology – narrative economics and medicine – and discusses its instructional potential and how it can be used to develop a new tool of ’wise interventions’ to enhance students’ COR in higher education. Based on qualitative content analyses of the students’ written responses, i.e. short essays, three distinct patterns of information seeking behavior among students have been identified. These three patterns – “Unambiguous Fact-Checking”, “Perspective-Taking without Fact-Checking”, and “Web Credibility-Evaluating” – differ substantially in their potential connection to underlying narratives of information used by students to solve the CORA tasks. This analysis suggests that training university students in narrative analysis can strongly contribute to enhancing their critical online reasoning.