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Omicron Delta Epsilon Chapter Advisor Session

Paper Session

Friday, Jan. 3, 2025 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM (PST)

Hilton San Francisco Union Square, Union Square 23
Hosted By: Omicron Delta Epsilon
  • Chair: Elizabeth Moorhouse, Lycoming College

ADHD and Student Grades: A Study of Academic Performance and the Effectiveness of Common Treatments for Students with ADHD

Lance Wescher
,
Covenant College
Samantha Murphy
,
Covenant College

Abstract

People with ADHD frequently struggle with executive function related tasks in jobs, like deadlines, organization, decision making and prioritization. Research suggests that an ADHD is tied to lower income, wealth, and employment levels, as well as increased government dependence. Some of these studies have lacked good data on one or both of family and educational characteristics. Most studies have lacked data on types of treatment for ADHD as well. This has led to substantial gaps in our understanding of the mechanisms by which ADHD affects economic outcomes.

Using the 2022 National Survey of Children’s Health Child Health Survey data from the U.S. Census, with its rich set of individual and community variables, we employ regression analysis to estimate the impact ADHD has on student academic performance. These are broken down by school level and gender. Moreover, we estimate the effectiveness of commonly used ADHD treatments on those students’ academic performance. We find that there are substantial differences across genders as well as by level of schooling and that the effectiveness of medical, behavioral and alternative treatments varies along these characteristics as well. This makes a substantial contribution to this growing field of research.

Humanizing Econ: Fostering Caring Attitudes Through Introductory Economics Topics

Aselia Urmanbetova
,
Georgia Institute of Technology

Abstract

This paper offers a bold proposal and a roadmap for integrating deep reflective and metacognitive practices into an introductory macroeconomics course. It focuses on enhancing students' abilities to learn, relate to, and build upon course concepts both during and after completing the coursework. Drawing from extensive literature in social psychology, the paper discusses the exploration of students' personal and professional values, emphasizing their significance in ongoing learning, study behavior, and connecting daily learning to long-term personal and professional growth. It outlines a detailed intervention piloted in 2023-2024 with over 400 students enrolled in fully online asynchronous courses. The exercise recommendations and assessment rubrics are informed by surprisingly insightful student reflections on the connections between the concepts they learned and their personal values, and overwhelmingly positive survey feedback. Moreover, preliminary results from Fall 2023 indicate a marked increase in the sense of belonging reported by historically URM students. Supported by the institutional Transformative Teaching and Learning grant at the Georgia Institute of Technology, this project's lessons extend well beyond the narrow course content of introductory macroeconomics and can be applied in other introductory and intermediate economics courses.

Do Students Perform Better in Learning Communities? Evidence from Economics and Statistics Linked Cohorts

Colin Cannonier
,
Belmont University

Abstract

In this study, we examine the impact of learning community courses at a private institution called Interdisciplinary Learning Communities [ILCs] in which students take two courses linked by the same topic or issue. One argument in favor of ILCs is that students are better able to integrate what they learn in either of the courses than if they had taken the courses separately. Consequently, student achievement should improve. Principles of Macroeconomics is one such course that may be taken as an ILC or separately, thereby, allowing for the conducting of a quasi-experimental design. We collect data containing a rich source of information relevant to student performance for each semester over a five-year period during which multiple sections of Principles of Macroeconomics are taught by the same instructor either as standalone courses or as ILCs with elementary statistics. Students taking Principles of Macroeconomics as an ILC are considered as the treatment group while those taking the course as a standalone are considered as the control group. Using Ordinary Least Squares [OLS] and Propensity Score Matching [PSM] techniques, we estimate any causal effect of the ILC treatment on student test scores in Principles of Macroeconomics. We employ additional empirical strategies to confirm the robustness of the results as well as investigate the heterogeneous effect by sex, race and ethnicity, area of study, academic classification, and ability. Our findings will demonstrate whether ILCs help to induce short-term gains in student learning outcomes when a course is taken as an ILC compared to when taken separately.

What Skill Gaps Are Prominent for Undergraduate Economics Majors? Evidence From Online Job Postings, Candidate Profiles, and Student Surveys

P. Wesley Routon
,
Georgia Gwinnett College

Abstract

What skills and other qualifications do employers of recent economics graduates seek from job market candidates? What skills do economics majors believe they gained during college tenure? Which of those skills do they commonly report when applying for jobs, and are they perhaps neglecting to mention any relevant ones? At both matriculation and graduation, how do their perceived skills compare to other college students? In the analysis here, three different samples are examined to help answer these and other questions: a sample of 17.4 million unique online job postings for economics majors, a sample of 1.7 million unique online profiles of job candidates with economics degrees, and responses from 0.4 million college students from over 600 U.S. colleges and universities, who were surveyed near undergraduate matriculation and again very near graduation. Hundreds of skills and qualifications are analyzed, including "hard" skills [e.g., mathematics], soft skills [e.g., leadership], technical skills [e.g., proficiencies with specific statistical software packages], and specific qualifications [e.g., occupational certifications]. Focus is given to those skills and qualifications where the gaps between the demand and supply sides of the labor market for economics majors are the largest, that is, those that most appear to be under- or overtaught in economics degree programs. Results are intended to help guide economics faculty when improving their curricula. The sample of job postings is also used to provide an overview of the current job market for economics majors, including advertised salaries, job requirements, and the geographic distribution of open jobs.

Discussant(s)
P. Wesley Routon
,
Georgia Gwinnett College
Lance Wescher
,
Covenant College
Aselia Urmanbetova
,
Georgia Institute of Technology
Colin Cannonier
,
Belmont University
JEL Classifications
  • A2 - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics
  • I2 - Education and Research Institutions