Measuring Student Scholastic Effort: An Economic Theory of Learning Approach

Abstract

Wetzel asserts that “… using levels of achievement as the dependent variable may miss the major benefits of a particular teaching method, namely less effort and time spent studying economics and additional leisure time …” He then discusses the McKenzie-Staaf model, which is derived from the work-leisure model of wage theory, and asks if it is possible to construct an “effort variable.” Wetzel's paper reports the results of an attempt to develop an “effort variable” and examine its relationship to certain student characteristics. In fact, three different “effort variables” were constructed and tested. Both the results and the techniques employed should be of interest to all economic education researchers.