Test Format and Calculator Use in the Testing of Basic Math Skills for Principles of Economics: Experimental Evidence

Melanie A. Fennell and Irene Foster ()

The American Economist, 2021, vol. 66, issue 1, 29-45

Abstract: Results from an experiment in Fall 2013 of 902 incoming students at this university are reported. In this experiment, after students were given a basic math assessment to ensure they had the necessary math skills to take a principles of economics course, they were randomly allocated to a treatment or control group to test whether there was a significant impact of test format, calculator use, and calculator type on students’ scores. The interaction of calculator use/type and test format was also tested. The results from this experiment suggest that each treatment had a significant positive impact on students’ assessment scores, with much variation depending on the type of question asked and the level of performance. JEL Classifications : A22, C23

Keywords: economic education; teaching economics; math assessment; microeconomics; calculator use; test format (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:amerec:v:66:y:2021:i:1:p:29-45

DOI: 10.1177/0569434520971212

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