An Evaluation of the Vanderbilt-JCEE Experimental PSI Course in Elementary Economics

Abstract

This is considerably longer than articles normally accepted by the JEE, but we considered it to be an important follow-up of our Special Issue No. 2, “The Vanderbilt-JCEE Experimental Course in Elementary Economics.” (Winter 1974.) The authors address a number of aspects of PSI, some of which have rarely been touched upon by other researchers interested in this method. This paper deals not only with student learning and student reactions to PSI, but with its effects on performance in higher level economics courses, its impact on the student proctors in terms of their learning of economics, and the costs of establishing and maintaining a PSI course. Siegfried and Strand have not answered all the questions pertaining to self-paced instruction but, along with Allison, Billings, Fels, Soper, Spector, Tietenberg and others, they have contributed significantly to our knowledge of the effectiveness of PSI.