How should economics curricula be evaluated?

Mearman, Andrew

Abstract

© 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This paper explores the evaluation of economics curricula. It argues that the dominant approach in economics education, experimentalism, has serious limitations which render it an unsuitable evaluation method in some cases. The arguments against experimentalism are practical, ethical and also rest on a view of the world as a complex, open system in which contexts are unique and generalised regularities are unlikely. In such an environment, as often found in educational contexts, alternative methods are advisable, at least as part of a suite of approaches in a realistic, case-based, mixed-methods approach to evaluation. Thus, economics curricula should be evaluated using a method or set of methods most appropriate to the particular object case. As such, there is no single answer to the question posed.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2014
• Deposit Date: Jan 6, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2016
• Journal: International Review of Economics Education
• Electronic ISSN: 1477-3880
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 16
• Issue: PB
• Pages: 73-86
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iree.2013.07.001
• Keywords: economics, curricula, evaluation, mixed-methods, case-based methods, realistic, experiment
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/818375
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.iree.2013.07.001
• Additional Information: Additional Information : Available online before print: 7th September, 2013
• Contract Date: Apr 5, 2016