Is Traditional Teaching really all that Bad? A Within-Student Between-Subject Approach

Recent studies conclude that teachers are important for student learning but it remains uncertain what actually determines effective teaching. This study directly peers into the black box of educational production by investigating the relationship between lecture style teaching and student achievement. Based on matched student-teacher data for the US, the estimation strategy exploits between-subject variation to control for unobserved student traits. Results indicate that traditional lecture style teaching is associated with significantly higher student achievement. No support for detrimental effects of lecture style teaching can be found even when evaluating possible selection biases due to unobservable teacher characteristics.teaching practices, educational production, TIMSS, between-subject variation

The Price Sensitivity of Health Plan Choice: Evidence from Retirees in the German Social Health Insurance

We investigate two determinants of the price sensitivity of health plan demand: the size of the choice set and the salience of premium differences. Using variation in both features in the German Social Health Insurance (SHI) and information on health plan switches of retirees in the German Socio Economic Panel, augmented with information on individuals’ choice sets we find that retirees react less to potential savings from switching when they have more plans to choose from and when differences between premiums are less salient. Simplifying choices could save consumers money and improve the functioning of the health insurance market

Do Teaching Practices Influence Student Achievement? * Preliminary Version

Abstract Recent studies have come to the conclusion that teachers matter for student learning and achievement. But up to now it remains uncertain what actually makes a good teacher. This study tries to shed light on the determinants of teacher quality by analyzing the relationship between a teaching practice and student achievement. The teaching practice looked at is the percentage of time the teacher spends in class giving lecture style presentation compared to having students solve problems. The study is based on matched student-teacher data for the United States from the 2003 Trends in International Math and Science Study (TIMSS). The data set allows to control for subject constant student traits by looking at test score differences between two subjects, math and science. While most teacher characteristics and qualifications do not explain the within student difference in test scores, more time spent on lecture style presentation is found to be an important determinant and therefore is likely an important factor related to teacher quality. JEL-Code: I21, C21

Is traditional teaching really all that bad? A within-student between-subject approach

Recent studies conclude that teachers are important for student learning but it remains uncertain what actually determines effective teaching. This study directly peers into the black box of educational production by investigating the relationship between lecture style teaching and student achievement. Based on matched student-teacher data for the US, the estimation strategy exploits between-subject variation to control for unobserved student traits. Results indicate that traditional lecture style teaching is associated with significantly higher student achievement. No support for detrimental effects of lecture style teaching can be found even when evaluating possible selection biases due to unobservable teacher characteristics.Teaching practices Educational production TIMSS Between-subject variation