The Importance of School Systems
The proseminar is open for bachelor students in economics and MFÖ as well as master students in economic education (Wirtschaftspädagogik). It is highly recommended for bachelor students who plan to write their bachelor thesis in the next two years and particularly recommended for students considering doing so in the field of public economics. The maximum number of participants is 10.
Description
Today it is widely recognized that education is enormously important to economic success in our modern knowledge-based world, not only for individuals, but for nations. Governments actively promote economic growth through large investments in education and training and substantial research has gone into identifying determinants of educational achievement which can be controlled by policy. However, there still exists a large uncertainty about whether specific education institutions and policies indeed promote the development of skills.
The aim of the seminar is to familiarize students with recent insights from the Economic literature on the effectiveness of various policy levers. In the seminar we will review the recent empirical evidence on the importance of school systems based on data from various large-scale international assessments of student achievement (e.g. PISA, TIMSS, PIRLS). The focus on empirical evidence based on these easily available data sources also allows for replications of the central findings of this literature as well as empirical investigations by students on related research questions. The specific topics to be covered include class-size, external exams, school competition, school autonomy, educational tracking, teacher quality, teacher pay, teaching practices, instruction time, and teaching equipment.
Methodologically, the proseminar aims at preparing students for writing seminar papers and theses. This includes the ability to identify the key message in a scientific research paper, scientific writing, presenting scientific research results, discussing scientific work of others, and, most importantly, employing these techniques! All participants receive individual feedback on their work and suggestions for how to further improve in future work.
Introductory Literature
The following two papers provide an introduction to the topics of the seminar.
Wossmann, Ludger. 2016. “The Importance of School Systems: Evidence from International Differences in Student Achievement.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 30 (3): 3-31.
Schlotter, Martin, Ludger Woessmann, and Guido Schwerdt. 2011. “Econometric Methods for Causal Evaluation of Education Policies and Practices: A Non-Technical Guide.” Education Economics 19 (2): 109-137.
Schedule
The seminar will take place as a block seminar with four blocks on June 22, 9-12 am, June 23, 9-12 am, June 29, 9-12 am, and June 30, 3:30-6:30 pm (Room: F208). A preliminary session will take place on April 27, 3-4:30 pm (Room: F208). Attendance at both the kickoff meeting and all presentations is necessary to pass the proseminar.
Language
The entire proseminar (paper, presentations, etc.) is held in English language. You are allowed to prepare your proseminar paper in German language, if you prefer so. However, we strongly advise you to prepare a scientific research paper in English language, because this is a frequent requirement for theses written at the department. The proseminar is a good opportunity to practice.
Structure
Students are expected to write a scientific proseminar paper of 10 to 12 pages excluding cover page and references (12 point font size, Times font, double spaced, margins of 1 inch each at top, bottom, left, and right). Your proseminar paper has to be submitted in PDF format to office.schwerdt@uni-konstanz.de no later than June 1, 2017 stating “Submission proseminar paper (your name)“ in the subject line. Shortly thereafter, students will receive a seminar paper of another participant. You are expected to prepare and present a discussion providing helpful comments on how your classmate's work could be further improved. Grading is based on students’ seminar paper (50%), presentation (20%), discussion (20%), and participation (10%) during the proseminar. A passing grade in all parts is required to pass the proseminar.
Registration
The deadline for registering is April 24, 2017. If the seminar is oversubscribed, applications of bachelor students will be preferred. Please indicate the degree program you are in when you register for the seminar. To apply for the proseminar, please send an email to office.schwerdt@uni-konstanz.de stating “Registration proseminar” in the subject line together with a list of at least three topics ranked according to your preferences from the following list of topics.
Topics
1. Class-size
Altinok, Nadir, and Geeta Kingdon. 2012. “New Evidence on Class Size Effects: A Pupil Fixed Effects Approach.” Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 74(2): 203–34.
2. External Exams
Jürges, Hendrik, Kerstin Schneider, and Felix Büchel (2005). “The Effect of Central Exit Examinations on Student Achievement: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from TIMSS Germany.” Journal of the European Economic Association 3 (5): 1134-1155.
3. School Autonomy
Hanushek, Eric A., Susanne Link, and Ludger Woessmann. 2013. “Does School Autonomy Make Sense Everywhere? Panel Estimates from PISA.” Journal of Development Economics 104: 212–32.
4. Educational Tracking
Piopiunik, Marc. 2014. “The Effects of Early Tracking on Student Performance: Evidence from a School Reform in Bavaria.” Economics of Education Review 42: 12–33.
5. Teaching Practices
Bietenbeck, Jan. 2014. “Teaching Practices and Cognitive Skills.” Labour Economics 30: 143–53.
6. Instruction Time
Rivkin, Steven G., and Jeffrey C. Schiman. 2015. “Instruction Time, Classroom Quality, and Academic Achievement.” Economic Journal 125(588): F425–F448.
7. Teaching Equipment
Falck, Oliver, Constantin Mang, and Ludger Woessmann. 2015. “Virtually No Effect? Different Uses of Classroom Computers and their Effect on Student Achievement.” CESifo Working Paper 5266.
8. Teacher Quality
Hanushek, Eric A., Marc Piopiunik, and Simon Wiederhold. 2014. “The Value of Smarter Teachers: International Evidence on Teacher Cognitive Skills and Student Performance.” NBER Working Paper 20727.
9. Teacher Pay
Dolton, Peter, and Oscar D. Marcenaro-Gutierrez. 2011. “If You Pay Peanuts Do You Get Monkeys? A Cross-country Analysis of Teacher Pay and Pupil Performance.” Economic Policy 26(65): 5–55.
10. Private Competition
West, Martin R., and Ludger Woessmann. 2010. “‘Every Catholic Child in a Catholic School’: Historical Resistance to State Schooling, Contemporary Private Competition and Student Achievement across Countries.” Economic Journal 120 (546): F229–F255.