The document describes the design of an online introductory economics course. It discusses building the course into modules that students complete sequentially with competency-based testing. It also describes using student feedback to modify and improve the course. Research was conducted comparing student performance and attitudes in the online course versus a traditional face-to-face course. The results found that online students performed as well or better on exams, showed no difference in complex problem-solving abilities, and had similar or more positive attitudes towards economics compared to face-to-face students.

1. An Online Course Design Introduction to Economic Analysis Steven C. Myers [email_address] Department of Economics - The University of Akron Presented to the Department of Political Science October 14, 2008 Online at http://gozips.uakron.edu/~myers/online And http://learnecon.blogspot.com

8. Module 1: Course Introduction

22. Research design Student’s success =f( student’s initial endowments , awareness of the economy, attitudes about economics, course modality, student characteristics) Pre-test scores total on recall and recognition on simple application problems on complex problems GPA Previous attempt of course

23. Research design Student’s success =f( student’s initial endowments, awareness of the economy , attitudes about economics, course modality, student characteristics) Survey of economic facts 20 questions…on trends and facts in the economy. 2 questions: How does the student collect business and economic news. How many hours per week does the student spend collecting news

25. Research design Student’s success =f( student’s initial endowments, awareness of the economy, attitudes about economics, course modality, student characteristics ) Online or face-to-face Major Level, e.g., freshman Credits completed Age Gender Ethnicity