Impacts of a Problem-Based Instruction Approach to Economics on High school Students
Regional need and study purpose
According to the National Council on Economic Education, 22 states require student testing in economics, 41 states require that districts implement standards in economics, and the National Assessment of Educational Progress assesses student knowledge of economics (NCEE 2007). Required for high school graduation in California and Arizona, economics has been the focus of attention because of the opportunity to improve instruction in an often poorly taught required course. In general, high school economics courses fail to teach students about their country's economic system, the workings of world trade, and the relationships between supply and demand and consumers and producers (National Council on Economic Education 1999). In addition, most teachers are unprepared for teaching economics because good instruction materials are unavailable, and professional development is scanty at best. Identifying a reliable and valid solution to this problem is of great value regionally and nationally.
Using a randomized controlled trial, this study assesses student-level impacts of a problem-based instruction approach to high school economics. Intended to increase class participation and content knowledge, the curriculum approach has been shown to especially benefit low-achieving students (Ravitz and Mergendoller 2005).This study targets high schools in both urban and rural areas and uses teachers who taught economics in both fall 2007 and spring 2008.
Previous research on problem-based economics curriculum indicates that the curriculum is effective with both low- and high-achieving students and that its practices are correlated with better student retention of core concepts (Ravitz and Mergendoller 2005; Moeller 2005). Evidence also suggests that a problem-based economics curriculum benefits various student subgroups (Mo and Choi 2003; Ravitz and Mergendoller 2005; Moeller 2005).
Through student and teacher background surveys, student and teacher checklists of practices used and their helpfulness, and pre-, post-, and final (delayed post) content tests, Ravitz and Mergendoller's (2005) quasi-experimental study relates teacher and student background characteristics to learning outcomes. That study, with 15 teachers and 1,162 students, finds the largest gains in learning among students who reported low prior achievement, though those reporting high prior achievement also outperformed expectations. This suggests an overall curvilinear relationship between prior achievement and learning in problem-based instruction. Problem-based practices consistent with this study's intervention were associated with long-term learning gains, while other more traditional or non-problem-based practices were associated only with short-term gains.
This study is designed to test the effect of problem-based instruction on student learning and problem-solving skills in economics. Student achievement outcomes are mediated by changes in teacher knowledge and pedagogical practice. Three research questions guided the study, one on teacher outcomes and two on student outcomes:
- Does problem-based economics change teachers' content knowledge of economics?
- Does it change students' content knowledge of economics?
- Does it change students' problem-solving skills in economics?
A problem-based approach to curriculum is frequently a component of high school reform models (Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound 1999; Honey and Henríquez 1996; Newmann and Wehlage 1995), but teachers and schools find incorporating problem-based teaching into daily classroom instruction difficult (Hendrie 2003). Teachers, social science department chairs, and school instruction leaders will be able to review the findings of the study as they evaluate their options in implementing a required component of the high school curriculum.