Does graduate economics education address the cognitive challenges of effective teaching?

Abstract

What do we know about how well graduate teaching in economics addresses cognitive challenges to learning? In short, very little. There is a dearth of research that investigates how graduate student, program and professor characteristics, and choices impact graduate student learning and other outcomes. Some of the broader literature on graduate education in economics includes findings that can be linked to Chew and Cerbin’s cognitive challenges to provide suggestive evidence, but many open research questions remain. Research is needed to understand whether improvements like clear communication, clear requirements and expectations, better advising, and adopting a learning-driven approach to graduate courses would mitigate cognitive challenges to learning and improve graduate education in economics.

Keywords:

• Cognitive challenges
• graduate education
• research

JEL CODE:

• A2

Notes

1 Although this was a unique and controversial study for the American Economic Association to pursue, other academic associations support such analyses regularly. As an example, the American Physical Society sponsors regular reports and conferences on graduate education in physics (see e.g., Campbell et al. 2006).

2 Indeed, the 20-page report mentions the word “learning” only five times, and never in the context of assessing learning outcomes.

3 When the GRE was redesigned in 2011, the scoring scale changed from 130 to 170.

4 Stock, Finegan, and Siegfried (2009) note, however, that dropouts’ responses may be influenced by after-the-fact rationalizations.

5 Of course, differences in the types of academic appointments PhDs take can explain part of this outcome.